Residual Drive Effects and Stimulus Control of Eating

Abstract

Following extended food deprivation, High-drive rats ( n = 6) failed to form a go/no-go discrimination based on differential magnitudes of reward, while Low-drive rats ( n = 6) formed a reverse discrimination. Both groups exhibited appropriate differential responding only when S—was associated with nonreward. During satiated runway test after 30 days of rehabilitation, residual drive effects as indicated by a high probability of eating and a vigorous runway performance were equally robust in both groups; but the probability of eating in the presence of S+ was not higher than that in the presence of S—. The absence of stimulus control of eating was attributed to the overshadowing of the discriminanda by food-related cues.