Biomaterial Database

Alcohol choice and outcome expectancies in social drinkers. 1998

T Duka, and R Tasker, and D N Stephens

Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK. dorad@biols.susx.ac.uk

Eighteen male social drinkers underwent four training sessions during which they ingested two colour-coded drinks (red or blue, balanced for drink type); one containing alcohol (aliquots of 0.1 g/kg) and the other placebo (aliquots of orangeade). Following the training sessions, subjects were presented with both drinks, and instructed to choose the drink they felt like consuming and to indicate their preference for their chosen drink over the other drink. In addition, they were instructed to consume the first drink but that all subsequent drinks (total of six drinks), offered at 10-min intervals, were optional. A number of trait characteristics were assessed including alcohol outcome expectancies, drinking habits and personality traits. The acute effects of alcohol on mood was also evaluated by comparing subjective ratings following alcohol and placebo during the training sessions. Of the 18 subjects, 12 chose alcohol at least once ('samplers'), whereas six never chose alcohol ('non-samplers'). Over the three sessions, however, alcohol and placebo were chosen equally. When alcohol was chosen, subjects drank significantly more than when placebo was chosen, which may be consistent with a priming effect of drinking alcohol. The amount of alcohol drunk was seen to correlate with the alcohol expectancy factor 'sociability'. Subjective reports of feeling 'alert', 'clear-headed', 'quick-witted', and 'attentive' all showed a main effect of choosing behaviour (i.e. 'samplers'/'non-samplers'). Further analysis indicated that this effect was due to 'samplers' reporting increased subjective ratings of these mood states following the ingestion of alcohol compared to 'non-samplers'. These increased subjective ratings were also positively correlated with the amount of alcohol consumed by the subjects during the choice procedure. No other relationships were found between the amount of alcohol consumed and any of the other state or trait measures. These data suggest that social drinkers who sample alcohol in a laboratory setting can be primed by alcohol to consume more. The results also indicated that the amount drunk was related to the degree to which subjects expected alcohol to increase sociability and to reports of subjective stimulant effects of alcohol (e.g., 'alert', 'clear-headed', 'quick-witted', and 'attentive').

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D009042	Motivation	Those factors which cause an organism to behave or act in either a goal-seeking or satisfying manner. They may be influenced by physiological drives or by external stimuli.	Incentives,Disincentives,Expectations,Disincentive,Expectation,Incentive,Motivations
D010147	Pain Measurement	Scales, questionnaires, tests, and other methods used to assess pain severity and duration in patients or experimental animals to aid in diagnosis, therapy, and physiological studies.	Analgesia Tests,Analogue Pain Scale,Formalin Test,McGill Pain Questionnaire,Nociception Tests,Pain Assessment,Pain Intensity,Pain Severity,Tourniquet Pain Test,Visual Analogue Pain Scale,Analog Pain Scale,Assessment, Pain,McGill Pain Scale,Visual Analog Pain Scale,Analgesia Test,Analog Pain Scales,Analogue Pain Scales,Formalin Tests,Intensity, Pain,Measurement, Pain,Nociception Test,Pain Assessments,Pain Intensities,Pain Measurements,Pain Questionnaire, McGill,Pain Scale, Analog,Pain Scale, Analogue,Pain Scale, McGill,Pain Severities,Pain Test, Tourniquet,Questionnaire, McGill Pain,Scale, Analog Pain,Scale, Analogue Pain,Scale, McGill Pain,Severity, Pain,Test, Analgesia,Test, Formalin,Test, Nociception,Test, Tourniquet Pain,Tests, Nociception,Tourniquet Pain Tests
D010551	Personality	Behavior-response patterns that characterize the individual.	Personalities
D011795	Surveys and Questionnaires	Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions.	Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D012054	Reinforcement, Psychology	The strengthening of a conditioned response.	Negative Reinforcement,Positive Reinforcement,Psychological Reinforcement,Reinforcement (Psychology),Negative Reinforcements,Positive Reinforcements,Psychological Reinforcements,Psychology Reinforcement,Psychology Reinforcements,Reinforcement, Negative,Reinforcement, Positive,Reinforcement, Psychological,Reinforcements (Psychology),Reinforcements, Negative,Reinforcements, Positive,Reinforcements, Psychological,Reinforcements, Psychology
D002755	Choice Behavior	The act of making a selection among two or more alternatives, usually after a period of deliberation.	Approach Behavior,Approach Behaviors,Behavior, Approach,Behavior, Choice,Behaviors, Approach,Behaviors, Choice,Choice Behaviors
D005712	Galvanic Skin Response	A change in electrical resistance of the skin, occurring in emotion and in certain other conditions.	Electric Conductance, Skin,Electrodermal Response,Reflex, Psychogalvanic,Skin Electric Conductance,Conductance, Skin Electric,Conductances, Skin Electric,Electric Conductances, Skin,Electrodermal Responses,Galvanic Skin Responses,Psychogalvanic Reflex,Response, Electrodermal,Response, Galvanic Skin,Responses, Electrodermal,Responses, Galvanic Skin,Skin Response, Galvanic,Skin Responses, Galvanic
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults