Adjunctive alcohol drinking in humans

Abstract

In an attempt to validate the animal model of adjunctive ethanol drinking in people, human subjects were allowed access to ad lib beer while playing a game that delivered monetary reinforcements on a FI schedule. Subjects exposed to a longer FI schedule drank significantly more than those exposed to a shorter schedule, confirming the prediction made by the animal model. A pattern of ingestion characteristic of adjunctive drinking was also observed in the longer FI condition, providing evidence that ethanol drinking in humans can be schedule-induced.