Operant conditioning methodology in the assessment of food preferences: introductory comments.

This paper provides a general introduction to the methodology used in the next three papers of this monograph to test dogs' food preferences. This "operant conditioning" methodology was developed in behavioral laboratories concerned with learning in animals. The logic of the methodology is described, some technical and practical aspects of the methodology are summarized, and its application in the hedonic-scaling of qualitatively different foods is discussed. The relation between this new methodology and the traditional two-bowl preference test is reviewed.