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Activity as a function of diet: II. Instrumentalactivity!
G. H. COLLIER, R. L. SQUIBB AND FLORENCE JACKSONRUT GERS, THE STA TE UNIVERSITY
AbstractRa ts fed isocaloric diets va rying in percen tage
protein showed the high es t rate of responding forsugar on a high protetn diet and the lowest levelof r esponding on a low protein diet. When protein wassub stituted as the r einforcer, the level of respondingImmediately dropped but eve ntually showed a trendin the direc tion of the highest r ate of r esponding forthe low protein diet and the lowest r ate of respondingfor the high protein diet.Problem
The voluntary intake of different items of food hasbeen shown to vary a s a function of nutritional defictts(e. g., Lepkovsky, 19·18), but the question of whetherreinforcing properties of di etary components vary in thesame fashion has received little investigation. Thepresent s tudy evaluates the effe ct of isocaloric dietscomple te in all essentials and containing varying a mounts of balanced protein on the reinforcingpropertiesof su crose and protein.
Procedures and ResultsThree Iso calozlc diets containing 13.8 . 21.3 (normal
cont r ols), and 41. 3% cr ude protein were us ed; eachcon tained 4.8 ca lor ies per gram of diet, and the knownrequirements of the rat for minerals, vitamins and otheres sen tials. Food and wate r were constantly avail able.
Three groups of 12 weanling r ats eac h wer e conditioned on the three exp erimental diets for 60 days .Figure 1 shows the typical growth curves for these diets.Following this period fiv e representative individuals
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from each dietary regimen were trained to bar press(BP) (Collier. & Myers, 1961) for 0.1 ml 32% sucrosereinforcement on a 1 min. FI schedule for 20 min. dailyover an eight- day period. After these sess ions thegroups were then switched from sucrose to a fresh rawliver slurry reinforcement for an addit ional six days.
Figure 2 shows that the rats fed the high proteindiet pressed significantly more for sucrose than thosefed the normal level of protein . On the other hand,the rats raised on the protein deficient diet presseds ignificantl y less than either group. When the liverslurry replaced sucrose as a reinforcer these observed differences disappeared and it was not until thefinal days that a trend, matching the supplementalvalue of the reinforcement, appea r ed . Food and waterintake a r e shown in Fig. 3 and were similar to those r eported in a prior experiment (Collier, Squibb, & J ackson, 1965) . Rectal temperatures taken at the end of thefirst 60 days of the dietary regimen, when compared.tocontrol values (101.70F), were s ignificantly higher in therats fed a deficiency of protein (102 .00F) and lower intho se fed the surfeit protein (100 .50F).
DiscussionThe question can be raised as to the degree which the
effec tivenes s of various kinds of reinforcers can be
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F ig . 1. Body weig ht as a fun ct ion or di et. F ig . 2. Bar presses as a runction or di et and or reinrorcer .
Psychon. Sci. , 1965, Vo l. 3 175
determined by the nutritional state of the animal. Thepresent data suggest that animals consuming an adequatediet imbalanced for protein may respond instrumentallywith differential strengths to substances tending to restore the balance, showing an inverse relation betweenactivity level and instrumental performance (Collier,Squibb, & Jackson, 1965), contrary to the predictionsof conventional drive theory. In the formused, proteinas a reinforcer appeared to be much less effe ctivethan sugar, however. The protein reinforcement im mediately changed the level of responding but did notresult in a significant inversion of rates of BP . Thefailure to show a significant separation, as would bepredicated from the deficiencies, may have been dueto the short duration of the experiment (s ix days) and/orthe prior training on sucrose.
R e fere n e e 8Coll ier, G., & Myers , L. Th e loci of rei nforcement . J . ex po P su
chol . , 1961, 61 , 57-66 .Collier, G. R., Squibb, R. L . , & Jackson , Florence . Activity as a
function of di et: 1. Spontaneous ac tiv ity. Psychon. Sci ., 1965 , 3,173-174 .
Lepkovsky, S. Th e physiological basi s of volu ntary food inta kes(Appe tite). Adv . Foo d Res. I, 1948, 46, 105-14 8.
N oteI. Th e work was sup porte d in part by gra nt MH 10252 from theUnite d States Public Health Service , Natio nal Ins titute of MentalHeal th.
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I'jg. 3. Food and water intake as a function of diet.
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176 Psychon . Sci. , 1965 , Vol. 3