Deranged ingestion: Foundations of therapy for alcoholism

Recent investigations of human and animal learning suggest that the conceptualization of alcoholism and its subsequent treatment might be appropriately based on an understanding of learning mechanisms which control feeding behaviour. Perhaps the most significant in this regard is the research concerning taste aversion and food avoidance. This research, particularly that related to modifying the feeding habits of predators and the management of alcoholism in humans by aversive conditioning, is described in detail in this review. The theoretical significance of the prolonged interval between the conditioned stimulus (the food or drink) and the aversive event and the insights that this research has provided on the notion of equipotentiality and generally of different aversive stimuli are discussed.

[1]  T. Baker,et al.  Emetic and electric shock alcohol aversion therapy: six- and twelve-month follow-up. , 1981, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[2]  J. A. Deutsch,et al.  The stomach signals satiety. , 1978, Science.

[3]  I. Bernstein.  Learned taste aversions in children receiving chemotherapy. , 1978, Science.

[4]  D. Novin,et al.  Duodenal nutrient infusion: effects on feeding in intact and vagotomized rabbits. , 1976, The Journal of nutrition.

[5]  C. R. Gustavson,et al.  Prey-lithium aversions. I: coyotes and wolves. , 1976, Behavioral biology.

[6]  W. Hankins,et al.  Bait shyness: avoidance of the taste without escape from the illness in rats. , 1976, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[7]  W. Hankins,et al.  Prey-lithium aversions. III: Bueto hawks. , 1976, Behavioral biology.

[8]  D. Novin,et al.  Paradoxical increased feeding following glucose infusions in recovered lateral rats. , 1976, The American journal of physiology.

[9]  Carl Pfaffmann,et al.  The pontine taste area in the rat , 1975, Brain Research.

[10]  John Garcia,et al.  Behavioral Regulation of the Milieu Interne in Man and Rat , 1974, Science.

[11]  John Garcia,et al.  Coyote Predation Control by Aversive Conditioning , 1974, Science.

[12]  S. Revusky,et al.  Flavor aversions produced by contingent drug injection: relative effectiveness of apomorphine, emetine, and lithium. , 1973, Behaviour research and therapy.

[13]  J. D. Davis,et al.  Peripheral control of meal size in the rat. Effect of sham feeding on meal size and drinking rate. , 1973, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[14]  S. Revusky.  Some laboratory paradigms for chemical aversion treatment of alcoholism , 1973 .

[15]  L. Green,et al.  The effect of rotation on the learning of taste aversions , 1973 .

[16]  M. Cabanac.  Physiological Role of Pleasure , 1971, Science.

[17]  S. Maier,et al.  Relative novelty of solid and liquid diet during thiamine deficiency determines development of thiamine-specific hunger. , 1971, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[18]  G. Davison,et al.  Aversion techniques in behavior therapy: some theoretical and metatheoretical considerations. , 1969, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[19]  R. A. Koelling,et al.  Conditioning with Delayed Vitamin Injections , 1967, Science.

[20]  Kendell Re,et al.  The fate of untreated alcoholics. , 1966 .

[21]  R. Sanderson,et al.  An investigation of a new aversive conditioning treatment for alcoholism. , 1963, Quarterly journal of studies on alcohol.

[22]  H. L. Borison,et al.  Physiology and pharmacology of vomiting. , 1953, Pharmacological reviews.

[23]  F. Lemere,et al.  An evaluation of the aversion treatment of alcoholism. , 1950, Quarterly journal of studies on alcohol.

[24]  J. Clarke,et al.  Covert sensitization, stimulus relevance and the equipotentiality premise. , 1984, Behaviour research and therapy.

[25]  W. Hankins,et al.  Flavor-illness aversions: potentiation of odor by taste in rats. , 1979, Behavioral and neural biology.

[26]  C. S. Mellor,et al.  Taste aversions to alcoholic beverages conditioned by motion sickness. , 1978, The American journal of psychiatry.

[27]  W. Hankins,et al.  The Evolution of Bitter and the Acquisition of Toxiphobia , 1975 .

[28]  R. Elkins.  Aversion Therapy for Alcoholism: Chemical, Electrical, or Verbal Imaginary? , 1975 .

[29]  M. Seligman,et al.  Biological boundaries of learning. , 1972 .

[30]  S. Rachman.  Aversion therapy and behaviour disorders: An analysis , 1969 .

[31]  John Garcia,et al.  Relation of cue to consequence in avoidance learning , 1966 .