The authors sought to further validate a cigarette purchase task (CPT), a self-report analogue of a progressive-ratio operant schedule, for the assessment of the relative reinforcing efficacy (RRE) of nicotine in smokers. The measure was assessed in terms of its correspondence to typically observed operant behavior, convergent validity, and divergent validity. Participants were 33 individuals (58% male, age M = 19.30 years) who smoked at least weekly (M = 5.31 cigarettes/day) and underwent a single assessment session. Data from the CPT exhibited the predicted inverse relationship between consumption and price, the predicted relationship between consumption and expenditure, and a heterogeneous pattern of interrelationships among the indices of reinforcement. In addition, 2 indices from the measure, intensity of demand and maximum expenditure for cigarettes, exhibited robust convergent and divergent validity. Although this is an incipient research area and the current study used a relatively small sample, these findings support the validity of a CPT as a time- and cost-efficient method for assessing nicotine reinforcement. Theoretical implications of the findings, limitations, and future directions are also discussed.

Rationale Craving as a motivational determinant of drug use remains controversial because of ambiguous empirical findings. A behavioral economic approach may clarify the nature of craving, theorizing that subjective craving functionally reflects an acute increase in a drug’s value. The current study tested this hypothesis via a multidimensional assessment of alcohol demand over the course of an alcohol cue reactivity procedure. Method Heavy drinkers (n = 92) underwent exposures to neutral (water) cues followed by personalized alcohol cues. Participants were assessed for craving, alcohol demand, affect, and salivation following each exposure. Findings Alcohol versus neutral cues significantly increased craving and multiple behavioral economic measures of the relative value of alcohol, including alcohol consumption under conditions of zero cost (intensity), maximum expenditure on alcohol (Omax), persistence in drinking to higher prices (breakpoint) and proportionate price insensitivity (normalized Pmax). Craving was significantly correlated with demand measures at levels ranging from .21 – .43. Conclusions These findings support the potential utility of a behavioral economic approach to understanding the role of environmental stimuli in alcohol-related decision making. Specifically, they suggest that the behavioral economic indices of demand may provide complementary motivational information that is related to though not entirely redundant with measures of subjective craving.

Background: Research on the genetic basis for impulsivity has revealed an array of ambiguous findings. This may be a result of limitations to self-report assessments of impulsivity. Behavioral measures that assess more narrowly defined aspects of impulsivity may clarify genetic influences. This study examined the relationship between possession of the DRD2 TaqI A and DRD4 48 bp VNTR genetic polymorphisms and performance on a behavioral measure of impulsivity, the delay discounting task (DDT), and three traditional self-report measures.

OBJECTIVES: We undertook this study to clarify the operative mechanisms that account for the relationship between emotional disclosure and health. We hypothesized that emotional disclosure via writing was a form of exposure-based therapy and that exposure was the active therapeutic component. Design and method. A group of 129 male and female undergraduates were randomly assigned to three writing groups: (1) a trauma disclosure writing group; (2) a positive emotion writing group to control for affect arousal; and (3) a neutral writing group to control for any affect arousal - either positive or negative. Process measures were taken before and after each 3-day, 20-minute writing session. All participants completed questionnaires that assessed psychological and physical functioning at both the baseline and the end of the semester (approximately 9 weeks later). RESULTS: Groups reported differential affective arousal as well as disclosure themes in accord with our predictions. We did not replicate the findings of Pennebaker and his colleagues (e.g. Pennebaker & Beall, 1986). In our study, physical health outcome measures did not differ between groups by the end of the semester, nor did psychological measures change from baseline to follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: We found only limited support for the hypothesis that exposure best explains the effects of written self-disclosure. Implications for future research in this area are discussed.

Perceived availability of a substance has been proposed to play a role in cue reactivity by both traditional classical conditioning models and S. T. Tiffany's (1990) cognitive processing model (CPM) of substance use. This study investigated the role of availability information on alcohol cue reactivity. Subjects were 134 heavy drinkers in a 2 x 2 between-subjects design, crossing cues (alcohol vs. neutral) and availability information (availability vs. unavailability). The results indicated significant main effects for cue type, with alcohol cues eliciting greater reactivity on multiple measures, and an interaction effect on the Alcohol Urge Questionnaire (M. J. Bohn, D. D. Krahn, & B. B. Staehler, 1995), such that exposure to alcohol cues in conjunction with unavailability information elicited a greater urge. This was largely a result of changes in self-reported craving and was interpreted as consistent with the CPM. Alternative methodologies and limitations are discussed.