Garcia effect

n. One-trial learning in which an animal learns to avoid a food after it has been sickened and especially if it has regurgitated after having eaten that food, whereas other stimuli such as buzzers and flashing lights do not produce such one-trial learning. This was important in showing that not all learning is equivalent, as had been supposed by behavioral theorists. Garcia,s ideas were so controversial he was not awarded his doctorate until 17 years after he left graduate school and his ideas had gained wide acceptance.