A comparison of responses and stimuli as time markers

A rat's behavior, as well as a stimulus, may be a time marker. But do they lead to similar performance? Eight rats were trained on a 20-s DRL procedure in which head-entry responses were time markers, i.e., each head-entry response indicated that food would not be delivered for 20 s. Concurrently, eight rats were trained on a control procedure in which light stimuli, yoked to the responses of a rat in the DRL procedure, were time markers, i.e., each light stimulus indicated that food would not be delivered for 20 s. A comparison of performance between the two groups showed a lower response rate in the DRL procedure than in the yoked control procedure. However, similar response patterns between the two groups were observed, suggesting that rats anticipated the food similarly with a stimulus or a response as the time marker.