title: An analysis of drug-seeking behavior in animals.
abstract: This article reviews the literature on the behavioral aspects of opiate dependence. Available data on the variables affecting drug-maintained behavior are presented. These variables are: (a) reinforcement variables, including parameters such as delay, magnitude, rate and duration of the reinforcing stimulus; (b) antecedent conditions, such as deprivation and satiation; (c) organismic variables, such as genotype, species, sex and age; (d) current environmental contingencies, such as the schedule of reinforcement in effect, or extinction; and (e) such experiential variables as pharmacological and behavioral history of the organism. The review ends with a discussion of the implications of these variables for the treatment of drug abuse.
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000187:drug effects; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005508:Food Deprivation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012527:Satiation; D012737:Sex Factors; D013045:Species Specificity; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D014868:Water Deprivation