In Chapter 6, we learned that some taste preferences (such as a liking for sweets) are universal—a part of our evolutionary heritage. Others are a matter of culture. When Thurston attends a dinner at a Japanese restaurant,

Question

he is fascinated as the chef prepares the food on a grill in front of him. When the appetizers are served, Thurston enjoys the raw oysters, but he cannot imagine eating the raw sea urchins and raw octopus that his friends are savoring. Use learning theory to explain the differences between Thurston's taste in foods and that of his friends.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: A good answer will include the following key points.
• Thurston and his friends have learned to like some of the foods that they eat. Since they grew up in different cultures, they learned to like different foods.
• Classical conditioning, particularly higher-order conditioning, can account for some likes.
o For example, as a child Thurston learned the meaning of certain words like "good," "delicious," etc.
o These words were conditioned stimuli that caused a conditioned response of pleasure.
o When a new food was presented to him by his parents, they may have said something like, "Thurston, try this yummy broccoli."
o After several pairings of "yummy" with broccoli, broccoli could become a conditioned stimulus triggering pleasure.
o Thurston's friends would have been given different foods by their parents.
• Observational learning can also account for certain likes.
o Thurston saw people eating certain foods as he grew up and imitated the eating habits of those he saw.
o For example, most young children don't like pizza until they see others eating and apparently enjoying it.
o Thurston's friends grew up seeing people eat different types of food like raw sea urchins and octopus.

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