Previous studies have shown that stimuli associated with drugs canacquire motivational proprieties, which allow them to control operantbehavior for drug consumption/seeking and other types of reward.The current research investigated whether a conditioned stimulus(CS) that has been paired with ethanol is able to disrupt the rate ofresponding for a reward. A Pavlovian instrumental transfer experimentwas conducted with albino rats. The experimental group receivedpaired presentations of the CS (i.e, tone) and the unconditionedstimulus (US) (i.e., the effects of ethanol). Subjects in the controlgroup received random presentations of the US and the CS. The rateof operant behavior for food seeking in both the presence and theabsence of the CS was determined for the subjects. The results showthat a CS associated with ethanol increased the rate of responding forfood.
Keywords:
Pavlovian conditioning, perant conditioning, Pavlovian instrumental transfer, drug tolerance
Alarcón Acuña, D., Miguez Cavieres, G., & Betancourt Mainhard, R. (2009). Increments in operant behavior due to a CS associated to ethanol. Revista De Psicología, 18(2), Pág. 65–79. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-0581.2009.17121
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