Oral ethanol self-administration in a continuous access situation: relation to food response requirements

Rats (N = 8) were housed (23 hr/day) in a test chamber in which the presentation of food pellets and 10% ethanol were a function of a concurrent fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement. Water was available from a drinking tube. Following a 90-day period with food pellets presented on a fixed-ratio one schedule (FR 1) and ethanol on a FR 4, the FR schedule for food presentation was systematically increased. Daily food intake declined as the FR increased up to FR 64. Decreases in food were accompanied by reduced water consumption and a three-fold increase in ethanol intake. The major increase in ethanol intake was accounted for by an increase in the number of ethanol bouts/day rather than an increase in bout size. The 24-hr cyclic pattern of food, water and ethanol ingestive behaviors found in the 90-day FR 1 period was maintained as the food presentation schedule increased. Food, ethanol, and water intake returned to the pre-FR-manipulation levels with the introduction of the food FR 1 condition. The results were discussed in terms of caloric, fluid, and activity changes resultant from the effects of the FR manipulation. No single factor could account for the increased ethanol consumption. These effects were related to previous work which demonstrates increased ethanol intake when response parameters of concurrent reinforcements are changed.