The influence of alcohol expectancy priming and mood manipulation on subsequent alcohol consumption

Studies showing that verbal priming can implicitly affect alcohol consumpti on have been used to support cognitive models of expectancies. However, bec ause expectancy words reflect affective states as well as drinking outcomes , mediation through an affective pathway remains theoretically plausible (i .e., suck words inadvertently may affect mood, which in turn influences dri nking). The primary pathway was identified (and expectancy theory was teste d) by comparing memory priming (using alcohol expectancy or neutral words) with mood induction (using positive or neutral music); an unrelated experim ent paradigm allowed the priming manipulation to implicitly affect drinking . Men in the alcohol priming group drank significantly more than men in eac h of the other conditions, and, consistent with theory, men with histories of heavier drinking drank the most when primed with alcohol expectancies, i ndicating that expectancies can function as automatic memory processes.