While ethanol-paired stimuli are frequently postulated to increase drinking motivation and thus increase ethanol responding and precipitate relapse, no study has demonstrated increases in ethanol-reinforced responding following presentation of an ethanol-paired stimulus that had not previously been part of a contingent relationship. Previous studies have shown that food-paired stimuli can increase food responding that is at low rates and increase food consumption in food-sated rats. In Experiment 1, we show that an ethanol-paired stimulus can increase ethanol responding that is at low levels late in the experimental session, presumably due to satiation. However, these increases may have resulted from either associative or non-associative mechanisms. In Experiment 2, we compared the effects of an ethanol-paired stimulus to those of the same stimulus in a Truly-Random-Control group. In a Truly-Random-Control, the stimulus and ethanol each are presented on independent random schedules, and thus any differences between the effects of the stimulus in the experimental and control groups is likely attributable to the association between the stimulus and ethanol. The stimulus increased ethanol-reinforced responding in both the experimental and control groups, but these increases were greater in the experimental than the control group. Thus, both stimulus-change and the pairing of the stimulus with ethanol may result in increases in ethanol-reinforced responding.

中文翻译：

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乙醇配对的刺激可以增强乙醇反应。

尽管经常假设乙醇配对刺激会增加饮酒动机，从而增加乙醇反应和沉淀物复发，但尚无研究表明乙醇配对刺激在以前不属于或有关系的情况下会增加。先前的研究表明，食物配对的刺激可以增加低速食物反应，并增加食物充足的大鼠的食物消耗。在实验1中，我们证明了乙醇配对的刺激可以增加乙醇响应，该响应在实验阶段后期处于较低水平，可能是由于饱食所致。但是，这些增加可能是由于关联机制或非关联机制引起的。在实验2中，我们在Truly-Random-Control组中将乙醇配对刺激的效果与相同刺激的效果进行了比较。在Truly-Random-Control中，刺激和乙醇分别以独立的随机时间表显示，因此实验组和对照组中刺激效果之间的任何差异都可能归因于刺激和乙醇之间的关联。在实验组和对照组中，刺激均增加了乙醇增强的反应，但是在实验中，这些增加比对照组更大。因此，刺激变化和刺激与乙醇的配对都可能导致乙醇增强的应答增加。因此，实验组和对照组中刺激效果之间的任何差异都可能归因于刺激与乙醇之间的关联。在实验组和对照组中，刺激均增加了乙醇增强的反应，但是在实验中，这些增加比对照组更大。因此，刺激变化和刺激与乙醇的配对都可能导致乙醇增强的应答增加。因此，实验组和对照组中刺激效果之间的任何差异都可能归因于刺激与乙醇之间的关联。在实验组和对照组中，刺激均增加了乙醇增强的反应，但是在实验中，这些增加比对照组更大。因此，刺激变化和刺激与乙醇的配对都可能导致乙醇增强的应答增加。