Compulsive drug use, which is typically portrayed as a defining qualit
y of addictive behavior, has been described as a pattern of drug consu
mption that is stimulus bound, stereotyped, difficult to regulate and
identified by a loss of control over intake. It is widely assumed that
compulsive drug use is caused by drug craving. This assumption is sup
ported by numerous findings of a general correspondence between measur
es of craving and drug-use behavior. A more focussed analysis of the a
vailable data, however, reveals that craving and drug use are not coup
led to the degree required by the hypothesis that craving is the sourc
e of all drug use in the addict. As an alternative to this craving-bas
ed view, compulsive drug use could be characterized as a form of autom
atized behavior. Automatic performance is assumed to develop over the
course of repeated practice of motor and cognitive skills. Automatized
behavior, like compulsive drug use, tends to be stimulus bound, stere
otyped, effortless, difficult to control and regulated largely outside
of awareness. The formulation of drug compulsion as a manifestation o
f automaticity rather than craving allows addiction researchers to app
ly methods and measures derived from cognitive sciences to investigate
the fundamental organization of compulsive drug-use behavior.