conditioned taste aversion
the association of the taste of a food or fluid with an aversive stimulus (usually gastrointestinal discomfort or illness), leading to a very rapid and long-lasting aversion to, or at the least a decreased preference for, that particular taste. Conditioned taste aversion challenges traditional theories of associative learning, since very few pairings between the food and illness are needed to produce the effect (often one pairing will suffice), the delay between experiencing the taste and then feeling ill can be relatively long (i.e., a long delay of reinforcement), and the aversion is highly resistant to extinction. This brainstem-based aversion has been observed both in humans and in nonhuman animals such as raccoons and octopuses. Also called Garcia effect; learned taste aversion; taste-aversion learning; toxicosis. See also preparedness.