The present study assessed rewarding properties of ethanol in adolescent and adult rats using a second order conditioning procedure similar to that used previously to detect differential motivational effects of ethanol in preweanlings (Molina et al., 2006; 2007). In this preparation, a first-order association between ethanol and a taste (CS1) provides the basis for second order place-preference conditioning (using a tactile/visual cue as the CS2). In other words, ethanol-mediated learning was tested in terms of the capability of the taste CS1 to act as a reinforcer when paired with a novel tactile CS2. Particular attention was given to the possibility of ethanol exerting differential hedonic effects as a function of dose and postadministration time (Pautassi et al., 2002; Molina et al., 2007). Hence, the initial pairing of ethanol and the taste CS was performed using a relatively low (0.5 g/kg) and a relatively high (2.0 g/kg) ethanol dose. Within each dose there was systematic variation of postadministration time interval (either 5-20 min or 30-45 min after ethanol administration). These post-administration times were chosen on the basis of previous research indicating
