EFFECTS OF THE STIMULUS-FOOD INTERVAL ON POLlDYPSIA IN RATS

Abstract

The control of a tone (3 khz, 60 dB) on drinking was evaluated in two experiments.

In the first experiment, food was delivered to each rat every 60 s; a 2-s tone was presented either 2, 12,22,32,42,52,60 s from the subsequent food delivery or randomly in time In a final condition the tone alone was scheduled every 60 s. In the second experiment, food was delivered every 180 s; across successive conditions, the tone was presented either 180, 152, 122, 92, 62, 32,2 s from the subsequent food delivery or randomly in time. Between each condition of tone and food presentation, the tone alone was scheduled every 180 s. In both experiments ea eh rat developed an idiosyncratic pattern of licking that remained unchanged throughout the different presentation schedules of tone and food. When presenting the tone alone, the rate of licking did not vary systematically with the temporal position of the tone.