Learned tolerance to alcohol: mental rehearsal with imagined consequences.
Two experiments tested the hypothesis that the acquisition of a new response is enhanced by mental rehearsal which includes the imagined consequence of mental performance. A total of 48 males participated in the research. Experiment 1 tested drug-free learning of a motor skill task. Experiment 2 used the same task to test the acquisition of a drug-compensatory response (i.e., tolerance) under alcohol. Subjects in each experiment were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: mental rehearsal with imagined consequences (C), mental rehearsal with no imagined consequences (N), and rest (R). Both experiments confirmed the hypothesis. C treatment yielded superior drug-free performance, and a greater tolerance. The effect of N treatment was intermediate, and R treatment was least effective. It was concluded that incorporating an imagined consequence of mental performance enhances the learning of alcohol tolerance and the acquisition of a motor skill. Factors that may have contributed to the marginal efficacy of N treatment were discussed, and research implications were considered.
Zinatelli
M
M
University of Waterloo, Canada.
Vogel-Sprott
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D004361:Drug Tolerance; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D011214:Practice, Psychological; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects*