The Water and Food Restriction and its Multiples Effects

Abstract

The study of the various impacts of unconditioned establishing operations has become important in behavior analysis. To investigated the effects of food and water restrictions on the weight and the pattern of consumption of 24 Wistar rats (12 female and 12 male) divided into two groups: 16 in restriction group,( gradual or abrupt), which were submitted to episodes of food or water restriction combined with episodes of free food or water and 8 in the control group which remained in ab lib condition. All subjects had their weights and consumption measured daily. The results indicate that: different restrictions (food or water) operate differently on the weight and consumption; there are differences in the ratio of the weight loss and the intensity of restriction between the subject submitted to gradual restriction and subjected to abrupt restriction, and exposure to episodes of restriction modify consumption patterns in ad lib condition.

Keywords

• establishing operation
• motivating operation
• restriction
• weight
• consuption