Reinforcement Reduces Behavioural Impairment Under an Acute Dose of Alcohol

Two experiments employed a total of 25 male social drinkers who learned a complex psychomotor task (Tracometer) and subsequently performed it 20 times under alcohol (0.60 g absolute alcohol/kg) while blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) rose and fell. In each experiment, one group received reinforcement for drug-compensatory performance (RP) and one received no reinforcement (P). The BACs associated with the onset and offset of behavioral impairment under the dose were measured, and these thresholds were significantly higher in RP than P groups; reinforcement delayed the onset and also hastened the offset of drug effects. The accelerated recovery from impairment was considered to imply that reinforcement may facilitate the adaptive process involved in acute tolerance. Since this same reinforcement treatment accelerates the development of tolerance to repeated doses of alcohol, the results of the present research suggest that the behavioural effect of acute and chronic doses may both be similarly influenced by environmental learning factors.