Intermittent Schedules of Reinforcement as Toxicological End Points

Intermittent schedules of reinforcement define the conditions under which learned operant behavior is rewarded. Such schedules offer the opportunity to examine toxicant-induced changes in a variety of behavioral processes, including learning, attention and memory processes, sensory function, motor behavior and motivational states, thus providing critical information about risks arising from toxicant exposure and potential mechanisms of those effects. Such behavior is stable over extended periods of time, allowing for determination of time course of toxicant effects and reversibility. Importantly, schedule-controlled behavior generally shows considerable cross-species generality, facilitating the interpretation of toxicant-induced risks.