Stanley Weiss

  American University

President's Address

Environmental Control of Drug Seeking: Reinforcement Contingencies and Incentive Motivation

How the principles of stimulus control established through the study of traditional appetitive reinforcers can further our understanding of drug abuse, craving, and " loss of control" that is a hallmark of addiction. Environmental cues associated with the drug-taking experience come to energize drug seeking, plus how exposing rats to certain combinations of these cues can triple their drug seeking and double their intake of cocaine or heroin, overriding the mechanisms that normally regulate drug-intake. The systematic investigation of conditioned inhibition within the context of drug self-administration provided findings relevant to the treatment of drug abuse.