Stimulus and subject control of schedule-induced drinking

Responding in three food-deprived rats was reinforced on schedules in which reinforcement periods (fixed-ratio 1 or 2 for 1, 3, 6, 9, 14, or 21 reinforcers) alternated with extinction intervals. Schedule-induced drinking occurred and was mostly confined to the onset of extinction intervals. Drink durations were longer after 21-pellet meals but were not reliably different after 1, 3, 6, or 9-pellet meals. When termination of the extinction intervals was response dependent, schedule-induced drinking diminished until minimum extinction intervals of 15, 30, and 60 sec were introduced.