Abstract

RUIZ, Jorge A.  and  BRUNER, Carlos A.. Delay of water reinforcement in a schedule-induced drinking procedure. Rev. mex. anál. conducta [online]. 2008, vol.34, n.1, pp.97-109. ISSN 0185-4534.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of lengthening the duration of a water reinforcement delay on the response that produces water in a schedule-induced drinking procedure. Three food-deprived rats were exposed to a tandem schedule Fixed Ratio (FR) 1 Fixed Time (FT) t s of water reinforcement. In successive conditions the FT duration was either 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 0 or 2 s. During all conditions food was delivered according to a Random Interval 64 s. It was found that the number of responses for water decreased gradually as the water reinforcement delay was lengthened and that this effect was reversed when the rats were exposed again to immediate and 2 s delayed reinforcement. These results suggest that schedule-induced drinking is sensitive to the parameters of reinforcement documented in operant conditioning and questions the interpretation of schedule-induced drinking as a third class of behavior.

Keywords : Delay of water reinforcement; schedule-induced drinking; delay-gradient; rats.