A long-term study of the impulsive choices of Lewis and Fischer 344 rats

Contemporary analyses of choice were implemented to analyze the acquisition and maintenance of response allocation in Lewis (LEW) and Fischer 344 (F344) rats. A concurrent-chains procedure varied the delay to the larger reinforcer (0.1, 5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 s). Delays were presented within sessions in ascending, descending, and random orders. Each condition lasted 105 days, and the entire data set was analyzed to obtain discounting functions for each block of 15 sessions and each food delivery across delay components. Both a hyperbolic-decay model and the generalized matching law described well the choices of LEW and F344 rats. Estimates of discounting rate and sensitivity to the immediacy of reinforcement correlated positively. The slope of the discounting function changed with presentation orders of the delays to the larger reinforcer. Extended training reduced differences between the LEW and F344 rats in discounting rates, sensitivity to the immediacy of reinforcement, and estimates of the area under the curve. We concluded that impulsive choice can change as a function of learning and is not a static property of behavior that is mainly determined by genetic and neurochemical mechanisms. Choosing impulsively may be an advantage for organisms searching for food in rapidly changing environments.