Cues associated with familiar alcoholic drinks such as beer may, throu
gh repeated association with the unconditioned stimulus properties of
alcohol, acquire the status of classically conditioned stimuli. It has
been proposed that such drug-related conditioned stimuli mediate drug
tolerance. Thus, the aim of the present experiment was to test this p
roposition on cognitive, subjective, and psychophysiological indicator
s of alcohol tolerance using human subjects. Two groups of subjects re
ceived alcohol in the form of a familiar drink (beer) or an unfamiliar
drink (blue peppermint mixture). Both drinks contained the same dose
of alcohol and were consumed at the same rate. Although conditioned he
art rate and skin conductance responses occurring while subjects looke
d at and tasted the test drinks were weak, there were strong indicator
s of conditioned tolerance on the performance measures following consu
mption. Subjects who consumed the unfamiliar drink were significantly
poorer on cognitive and motor tasks, and they rated themselves more in
toxicated than did those who consumed the familiar drink. Copyright (C
) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd