Water Deprivation Level Effects on Delay Discounting
Objective: To measure discounting of reinforcer value by delay in rats using an adjusting-amount procedure under varying water deprivation levels, and to assess effects on delay discounting and response speed
This is a Water Deprivation Level Effects on Delay Discounting protocol using rat as the model organism. The procedure involves 5 procedural steps, 1 equipment items, 1 materials. Extracted from a 1997 paper published in Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.
Model and subjects
rat • Not specified • unknown • Not specified • Not specified • 8
Study window
Estimated timing pending
Core workflow
Establish baseline choice behavior • Determine indifference points • Test effects of delay on discounting (Experiment 1)
Primary readouts
- Indifference points (amount of immediate water chosen with equal frequency to delayed amount)
- Discount functions describing the relationship between delay and reinforcer value
- Response speed under different water deprivation levels
- Effects of reinforcer magnitude on discounting function steepness
Key equipment and reagents
Use this page as an execution guide, then fall back to the source paper whenever you need exact exclusions, dosing details, or assay-specific caveats.
Confirm first
- Verify the animal model, intervention setup, and collection timepoints against the source paper.
- Check that every direct vendor link matches the exact specification your lab plans to run.
Use the page like this
- Work through the protocol steps in order and use the inline vendor chips only when you need to source or verify an item.
- Jump to Experimental Context for readouts, data shape, and analysis flow before planning downstream analysis.
Protocol Steps
Start here. The step list is optimized for running the experiment, with direct vendor links available inline when you need to source a cited item.
Establish baseline choice behavior
Rats were presented with choices between a varying amount of immediate water and a fixed amount of water given after a delay
Note: The amount of immediate water was systematically adjusted as a function of the rats' previous choices
View evidence from paper
“Eight rats chose between a varying amount of immediate water and a fixed amount of water given after a delay. The amount of immediate water was systematically adjusted as a function of the rats' previous choices.”
Determine indifference points
The procedure was used to determine the indifference point at which each rat chose the immediate amount and the delayed amount with equal frequency
Note: The amount of immediate water at the indifference point was used to estimate the value of the delayed amount of water
View evidence from paper
“This procedure was used to determine the indifference point at which each rat chose the immediate amount and the delayed amount with equal frequency. The amount of immediate water at this indifference point was used to estimate the value of the delayed amount of water.”
Test effects of delay on discounting (Experiment 1)
Daily changes in the delay to the fixed reinforcer were tested at multiple delay intervals
Note: Delays tested: 0, 2, 4, 8, or 16 seconds; fixed reinforcer amount: 100 microliters
View evidence from paper
“In Experiment 1, the effects of daily changes in the delay to the fixed reinforcer (100 microliters of water delivered after 0, 2, 4, 8, or 16 s) were tested.”
Test effects of water deprivation level on discounting (Experiment 2)
Water deprivation level was altered to assess effects on discounting of value by delay and response speed
Note: Altering water deprivation level affected the speed of responding but did not affect delay discounting
View evidence from paper
“In Experiment 2, the effects of water deprivation level on discounting of value by delay were assessed. Altering water deprivation level affected the speed of responding but did not affect delay discounting.”
Test effects of delayed reinforcer magnitude (Experiment 3)
The magnitude of the delayed water was varied to assess effects on the discounting function
Note: Three magnitudes tested: 100, 150, and 200 microliters
View evidence from paper
“In Experiment 3, the effects of varying the magnitude of the delayed water (100, 150, and 200 microliters) were tested.”