The aversive control of excessive alcohol consumption by chronic alcoholics in the laboratory setting.
The efficacy of several methods of aversive control of excessive alcoholic drinking was investigated in a semi-naturalistic setting that permitted objective measurement of the drinking behavior of chronic alcoholics. Studies 1A and 1B compared an excape-conditioning precedure with a control procedure in which aversive electrical shocks were administered before drinking. Neither procedure effectively decreased subjects' pretreatment, baseline alcoholic drinking behavior. In Study 2, aversive response-contingent shocks effectively suppressed alcoholic drinking, but drinking subsequently returned to its former levels after withdrawal of punishment. Self-administered shock appeared to be as effective as experimenter-administered punishment  for controlling drinking, even  when the punishment contingency was faded out over time. Study 3 replicated the suppressant effect of punishment, and demonstrated that contingent shock was significantly more effective than yoked, noncontingent shock. A direct comparison of self-versus experimenter-administered punishment suggested a possible slight advantage for the latter.
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000628:therapy*; D001348:Aversive Therapy; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D004597:Electroshock; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011678:Punishment; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule
D000431:Ethanol