Covert sensitization treatment of alcoholism: Contributions of successful conditioning to subsequent abstinence maintenance

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An ongoing program of selective breeding is successfully developing strains of SpragueDawley-derived rats that are strong or weak acquirers of a cyclophosphamide-induced taste aversion (T A). Although strain separation has been based exclusively upon the T A criterion, all subjects have also been studied with respect to the acquisition of shock-motivated environmental avoidance (SMEA) responses. The separation of strains of strong and weak T A learners has not resulted in similar changes in SMEA learning efficiency. The present study was undertaken to extend this analysis by comparing the two strains on appetitively motivated operant behaviors. Both fixed-ratio (FR) and differential-reinforcement-of-Iow-rates (DRL) schedules were studied because of their respective contrast with and similarity to the TA paradigm. No strain differences in food-reinforced barpressing were detected under either the FR or the DRL schedule. These results indicate that strain separation on the basis of T A performance is not selecting for generalized learning or performance variables that are common to these tasks. However, in a finding that merits additional study, strong TA conditioners were found to satisfy a criterion for initial barpress acquisition under a continuous schedule of reinforcement in significantly fewer sessions than were required by the weak T A strain. Conditioned taste aversions (T As) represent a type of learning possessing both theoretical and practical significance (e.g.,

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confidence: 93%

Operant performance of rats selectively bred for strong or weak acquisition of conditioned taste aversions

Hobbs¹,

Elkins²

1983

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“…Garcia's (1971) anecdotal evidence that such aversions are common in man is supported by the survey data of Garb and Stunkard (1974) and experimental data from cancer chemotherapy subjects of Bernstein (1978). Additional striking examples of human aversions may be found in the alcoholism treatment literature, which contains numerous reports of aversion formation when actual or symbolic alcoholic beverages were paired with druginduced or verbally induced nausea (Baker & Cannon, 1979;Elkins, 1975Elkins, , 1980Lemere & Voegtlin, 1950).…”

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confidence: 54%

Taste aversion proneness: A modulator of conditioned consummatory aversions in rats

Elkins

Hobbs²

1982

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Sprague-Dawley-derived rats were sequentially conditioned to avoid both anise-and saccharinflavored solutions with counterbalanced orders of flavor exposures prior to cyclophosphamideinduced illness. The amounts of saccharin and anise solutions consumed during separate postconditioning single-bottle tests were correlated to determine if aversion strength was consistent across flavors. The saccharin-anise sequence revealed a positive and significant correlation, supporting the hypothesis that conditioned flavor aversions are modulated by some intrasubject factor or factors, a tendency designated as taste aversion proneness. However, a correlational coefficient of marginal significance was obtained from the anise-saccharin sequence, leaving unanswered questions concerning the salience and generality of taste aversion proneness. Despite this limitation, taste aversion proneness is viewed as having important applied implications for aversion therapy approaches to the treatment of human alcoholism.

“…For humans, individual differences in taste-aversion (T A) conditionability may modulate the effectiveness of nausea-based consummatory aversion treatments of alcohol and drug dependence (Elkins, 1980(Elkins, , 1991. Additionally, individual differences in CT A propensities may influence cancer patients' development of aversions to foods consumed in association with chemotherapy-induced nausea (Bernstein, 1978).The rat has been advanced as a useful T A learning model of nausea-based consummatory aversion therapies (Elkins, 1980;Logue, 1985). In an attempt to clarify possible genetic contributions to individual differences in T A learning propensities, Elkins (1986) undertook a program of CT A-based bidirectional selective breeding of SpragueDawley-derived rats.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, considerable individual variability in CT A is observed within each species. For humans, individual differences in taste-aversion (T A) conditionability may modulate the effectiveness of nausea-based consummatory aversion treatments of alcohol and drug dependence (Elkins, 1980(Elkins, , 1991. Additionally, individual differences in CT A propensities may influence cancer patients' development of aversions to foods consumed in association with chemotherapy-induced nausea (Bernstein, 1978).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Radial-maze learning by lines of taste-aversion-prone and taste-aversion-resistant rats

Hobbs¹,

Walters²,

Shealy

et al. 1993

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Lines of taste-aversion-prone and tas"te-aversion-resistant rats have been developed through 22 generations of bidirectional selective breeding for efficient or inefficient taste-aversion conditionability. The present study compared these two lines on food-reinforced foraging in a radialarm maze. The lines, although not identical on all measures taken, were equally adept at learning the maze. This finding supports prior indications that selective breeding has exerted an effect on learning that is highly specific to taste-aversion conditionability. Therefore, the genetically based line differences in taste-aversion conditionability cannot be attributed to a genetic difference in general learning aptitude.Nausea-based conditioned taste aversions (CT As) are acquired efficiently by rats and humans (Garcia, 1989). Nevertheless, considerable individual variability in CT A is observed within each species. For humans, individual differences in taste-aversion (T A) conditionability may modulate the effectiveness of nausea-based consummatory aversion treatments of alcohol and drug dependence (Elkins, 1980(Elkins, , 1991. Additionally, individual differences in CT A propensities may influence cancer patients' development of aversions to foods consumed in association with chemotherapy-induced nausea (Bernstein, 1978).The rat has been advanced as a useful T A learning model of nausea-based consummatory aversion therapies (Elkins, 1980;Logue, 1985). In an attempt to clarify possible genetic contributions to individual differences in T A learning propensities, Elkins (1986) undertook a program of CT A-based bidirectional selective breeding of SpragueDawley-derived rats. Selection was initiated at each of the two extremes of T A conditionability in randomly bred stock. At approximately 90 days of age, nonsibling matings were effected between the best learners and between the poorest learners of a cyclophosphamide-induced CT A to a normally preferred saccharin solution.An overview of the CT A methodology, which is detailed elsewhere (Elkins, 1986), is as follows: Fluiddeprived rats ingest a normally palatable saccharin solution and then are injected with cyclophosphamide. Cy- clophosphamide produces nausea in humans (Bernstein, 1978) and, presumably, elicits some comparable experience within rats, as indicated by its effectiveness as a T A conditioning agent. After a 3-day recovery period from the acute effects of cyclophosphamide, the rats begin 15 days of preference testing. During this assessment, they have contInuous access to the saccharin solution and to plain tap water. A daily preference score is computed that indicates the percentage to which ingestion of the saccharin solution contributes to total daily fluid intake . A subject's mean saccharin preference score, averaged over an interval of at least 3 days, has been the behavioral index of breeder selection.Line differences in T A conditionability appeared within the 2nd selected (S-2) generation (Elkins, 1986). Ongoing selection across 22 additional generations has p...