Alcoholism. The evolution of a behavioral perspective.
Behavioral approaches to understanding the etiology of alcoholism represent a divergence from traditional biomedical and psychodynamic models. The behavioral perspective subsumes a number of diverse conceptual models that share a common emphasis on the interplay between environmental forces and the response of the organism (S-R model). Yet these models--classical conditioning, drive reduction, and operant conditioning--offer different procedural paradigms and explanatory mechanisms. Through consistent application of the scientific method, certain behavioral principles from these models have survived empirical validation and continue to enrich our understanding of alcoholism. This chapter reviews these models and their attendant empirical findings, from both animal and human research, as they pertain to the etiology of alcoholism. The cognitive-behavioral approach, a recent product of this evolutionary development, focuses on cognitive processes that mediate stimulus-response relationships. The cognitive-behavioral model provides a comprehensive account of both the acquisition and maintenance of problem drinking and is discussed in some detail.
D000437:Alcoholism / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D000818:Animals; D001519:Behavior; D003071:Cognition; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D004328:Drive; D004361:Drug Tolerance; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007858:Learning; D008960:Models, Psychological; D013315:Stress, Psychological