Rats were trained to nose poke for a 0.20‐mL 12% alcohol reward in 1‐hour sessions given every other day. Alcohol delivery (US) was accompanied by discrete audiovisual stimuli (CS, 4‐second active hole illumination and tone presentation) and was followed by a 15‐second time‐out period, during which nose poking has no programmed consequences (alcohol unavailability period). Different reinforcement schedules (fixed ratio [FR]) were used (FR1‐FR3). In total, animals were subjected to 15 FR1, five FR2, and five FR3 sessions. Each FR increment was implemented after animals had reached stable performance, ie, when there were no significant differences in responding between the last two sessions of each reinforcement schedule.
