INVARIANCE OF RATS RATE OF DRINKING

Studied the adult male albino rat's rate of drinking by directly measuring the interlick intervals, and comparing interlick-interval distributions obtained during drinking elicited by several different sets of dipsogenic stimuli. The means and standard deviations of the interlick-interval distributions were highly stable and generally on the order of 150 4 15 msec. Neither the interlick interval nor the volume of fluid ingested/lick was affected in any appreciable or systematic way by wide variations in the quantity and quality of dipsogenic stimulation. The drinking response is under on-off control. with the rate of ingestion being either zero or some constant value, and the volume ingested being determined by the duration of drinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.