IS BEHAVIORAL TOLERANCE LEARNED

Both scientific and anecdotal evidence indicates that social drinkers can develop resistance (i,e,, behavioral tolerance) to alcohol's impai ring effects over time, Although repeated exposure to alcohol is thoug ht to explain tolerance development on a physiological level, the acqu isition of behavioral tolerance appears to involve additional factors, In particular, learned associations between a drinker's behavior foll owing alcohol consumption and the subsequent consequences may play an important role, When favorable consequences result from displaying uni mpaired (i,e,, tolerant) behavior after drinking a drinker learns to d evelop behavioral strategies to compensate for alcohol's effects, In c ontrast, if a drinker does not receive a reward for unimpaired behavio r-or finds that a more favorable outcome follows the display of intoxi cated behavior-tolerance does nob develop, Studies show that subjects also can develop behavioral tolerance to alcohol when they practice a task while impaired by factors other than alcohol or when they mentall y rehearse task performance while under the influence of alcohol.