Abstract
Two white rats exhibited water and.4% saccharin polydipsia under a fixed-time 1-min feeding schedule. Oral administration of haloperidol in doses of.25,.50, and.75 mg reduced consumption of both fluids in direct proportion to dose, but saccharin intakes always exceeded those of water. Thus, the suppression of water polydipsia by haloperidol (Keehn, Coulson, & Klieb, 1976) is not merely the result of sedation. We argue that polydipsia occurs because food plus fluid is a greater reinforcer than food alone and that excessive drinking is a side effect of a normal reinforcement process that overpowers homeostatic mechanisms; the effect of haloperidol is to redress this imbalance.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Burks, C. D., & Fisher, A. E. Anticholinergic blockade of schedule-induced polydipsia. Physiology and Behavior, 1970, 5, 635–640.
Falk, J. L. Production of polydipsia in normal rats by an intermittent food schedule. Science, 1961, 133, 195–196.
Falk, J. L. The nature and determinants of adjunctive behavior. In R. M. Gilbert & J. D. Keehn (Eds.), Schedule effects: Drugs, drinking and aggression. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1972. Pp. 148–173.
Fisher, A. E. Relationships between cholinergic and other dipsogens in the central mediation of thirst. In A. N. Epstein, H. R. Kissileff, & E. Stellar (Eds.), The neuropsychology of thirst: New findings and advances in concepts. Washington: Winston, 1973. Pp. 243–278.
Janssen, P. A. J. The pharmacology of haloperidol. International Journal of Neuropsychiatry, 1967, 3, 10–18. Supplement No. 2.
Keehn, J. D., & Colotla, V. A. Prediction and control of schedule-induced drink durations. Psychonomic Science, 1970, 21, 147–148.
Keehn, J. D., & Matsunaga, M. Attenuation of rats’ alcohol consumption by trihexyphenidyl. In O. Forsander & K. Eriksson (Eds.), Biological aspects of alcohol consumption. Helsinki: Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies, 1971. Pp. 251–257.
Keehn, J. D., Coulson, G. E., & Klieb, J. Effects of haloperidol on schedule-induced polydipsia. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1976, 25, 105–112.
Kissileff, H. R. Food-associated drinking in the rat. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1969, 67, 284–300.
Millenson, J. R., Allen, R., & Pinker, S. Adjunctive drinking during variable and random interval food reinforcement schedules. Animal Learning & Behavior, in press.
Premack, D. Reinforcement theory. In D. Levine (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1965. Pp. 123–180.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by funds from the President’s National Research Council of Canada Grant to York University.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Keehn, J.D., Riusech, R. Schedule-induced water and saccharin polydipsia under haloperidol. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 9, 413–415 (1977). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337041
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337041