SOCIAL DRINKING HISTORY, BEHAVIORAL TOLERANCE AND THE EXPECTATION OF ALCOHOL

This research tested the hypothesis that a compensatory response to cu es for alcohol contributes to the greater behavioral tolerance display ed by more experienced social drinkers. Sixty male social drinkers, ra nging from 19 to 24 years of age, participated in the study. Thirty su bjects had been drinking for 20 months or less (mean = 11.0 months), a nd were classified as novice (N) drinkers. The remaining 30 subjects h ad been drinking for 24 months or more (mean = 40.8 months), and were classified as experienced (E) drinkers. All subjects practiced a pursu it rotor task that measured psychomotor skill. Equal numbers of E and N subjects were then assigned to one of three groups (n = 10). Two gro ups were led to expect alcohol and performed the task after receiving either 0.56 g/kg alcohol, or a placebo. The third group received no be verage. E subjects displayed more behavioral tolerance to alcohol than did N drinkers. In accord with the hypothesis, E drinkers displayed a drug-opposite improvement in performance under a placebo, whereas N d rinkers showed no appreciable change in performance. These observation s support the hypothesis that the acquisition of a compensatory respon se to cues predicting the administration of alcohol contributes to the greater behavioral tolerance of more experienced drinkers.