Abstract
The current experiment examined whether dehydrated rats could learn to anticipate disruption of access to water. Previous research showed that rats running in a wheel in order to drink compensated for local disruptions on intake by increasing their rate of intake after, but not prior to the initial disruption. The present experiment exposed rats to either a fixed-ratio (FR) schedule that required rats to run in order to drink or a matched, fixed-time (FT) schedule that allowed the animals intermittent access to water without running. Access to water was disrupted by restricting the quantity of water available per drink bout. Rats increased their local rate of water intake prior to the disruption under the FT schedule but not under the FR schedule. The results suggest that rats can learn to increase their local rate of intake in anticipation of local restrictions on water under response-independent (FT) schedules. It was hypothesized that these anticipatory increases in the local rate of intake resulted from a priming effect due to the motivating effects of stimuli associated with water and/or frustration resulting from attempts to drink prior to water availability.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
