Schedule-induced Polydipsia and Reinforcement Amount

摘要

The relationship between polydipsic water consumption as a function of dipper size for rats was examined. Results of experiments support an earlier prediction of an increasing negatively accelerated relation between water intake and dipper size. The fact that water availability as well as other aspects of the experimental space do effect schedule-induced polydipsia render meaningless any notion of a volume constancy mechanism which is operated solely by food scheduling parameters. The food schedule and its parameters are but one set of factors relevant to the level of polydipsia water consumption.