Following intermixed or blocked preexposures to two similar stimuli (AX and BX), rats received a single taste aversion conditioning and test trial with a compound composed of the distinctive flavors of the stimuli (AB). AB consumption was lower after intermixed than blocked preexposures (Experiments 1 and 2), regardless of whether rats received few (4) or many (12) stimulus presentations during preexposure, while overall consumption of AB was not affected by the length of preexposure (Experiment 2). Furthermore, consumption of the AB compound in a control group not receiving any preexposure trial was similar to that found for the intermixed preexposure condition but lower than that found for the blocked condition (Experiment 3). Conditioning to the AB compound was always successfully established, but it seemed to be unaffected by the preexposure schedule or its length. These findings are discussed in terms of whether salience is the stimulus property being modified by the preexposure schedule.