Schedule control of eating by fixed-time schedules of water presentation

Eating was measured in water-deprived rats when water was presented at regular intervals ranging from 30 to 240 sec. The temporal patterning of eating resembled that of schedule-induced behavior in that the probability of eating was high early in the interval and declined in the end of the interval. Additionally, (a) the number of pellets consumed was controlled by relative time in the interwater interval, (b) the pellets consumed per water presentation was inversely related to water rate, and (c) food-ingestion rate was directly related to water rate. These relationships parallel those found with behavior regarded as schedule induced.