Craving is a central concern for most addicts and figures prominently
in many conceptualizations of addictive behaviour. Despite the putativ
e importance of craving, there has been little systematic, programmati
c research on the form and function of drug desire in addictive disord
ers. The absence of such research can be attributed, in part, to funda
mental obstacles to the measurement, manipulation and conceptualizatio
n of craving processes. Examples of recent research and theorizing int
ended to address these obstacles are presented. This work includes the
generation of multi-item questionnaires for the reliable assessment o
f drug craving, the development of methodologically sound procedures f
or laboratory-based manipulations of craving, and the articulation and
evaluation of a cognitive-processing model of drug use and drug cravi
ng. This model assumes, unlike most contemporary conceptualizations of
drug craving, that the processes that control drug administrations ca
n operate independently of craving. Craving is hypothesized to represe
nt the operation of cognitively demanding nonautomatic processes devot
ed to either supporting or blocking the execution of highly automatize
d drug-use behaviours. Research using probe reaction-time measures dur
ing craving induction supports the hypothesis that craving is cognitiv
ely demanding. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.