Learning that a cocaine reward is smaller than expected: A test of Redish's computational model of addiction.

The present experiment tested the prediction of Redish's (2004) computational model of addiction that drug reward expectation continues to grow even when the received drug reward is smaller than expected. Initially, rats were trained to press two levers, each associated with a large dose of cocaine. Then, the dose associated with one of the levers was substantially reduced.

Demand for food and cocaine in Fischer and Lewis rats.

Fischer and Lewis rat strains often serve as animal vulnerability models for drug abuse and addiction. When these strains respond for drugs of abuse, several measures, including total drug intake, response rate and progressive-ratio breakpoints, have been reported to be strain-dependent, a result suggesting genetic differences in drug reactivity and vulnerability. The present study extends these strain comparisons to a previously untested measure--demand analysis.

Demand for cocaine and food over time.

When reinterpreted, data from Ahmed and Koob [Ahmed, S.H., Koob, G.

Essential value of cocaine and food in rats: tests of the exponential model of demand.

Rationale: To provide a prospective test of the predictive adequacy of the exponential model of demand (Hursh and Silberberg, Psych Rev 115(1):186-198, 2008).

Objectives: In Experiment 1, to measure the 'essential value' (the propensity to defend consumption with changes in price) of cocaine and food in a demand analysis (functional relation between price and consumption) by means of the exponential model; in Experiment 2, to test whether the model's systematic underestimation of cocaine consumption in Experiment 1 was due to weight loss; and in Experiment 3, to evaluate the effects of cocaine on the essential value of food.

Materials And Methods: In Experiment 1, demand curves for food and cocaine were determined by measuring consumption of these goods in a multiple schedule over a range of fixed ratios; in Experiment 2, a demand curve for only cocaine was determined; and in Experiment 3, demand for food was determined in the absence of cocaine.

Reduction of cocaine seeking by a food-based inhibitor in rats.

Environmental stimuli can exert a powerful influence over drug seeking and taking. For example, previous experiments found that combining multiple drug-related stimuli tripled drug seeking and doubled drug intake (L. V.

Mark tests for mirror self-recognition in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) trained to touch marks.

In Experiment 1, three capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) were exposed to a mirror in their home cage for 3 days and then given food treats for touching orange marks located on the surface of an experimental chamber. Following training, a mirror was added to the chamber to see if the monkeys would use it to guide non-reinforced contacts with an orange mark on their foreheads that was only visible as a mirror reflection (mark test). Two monkeys touched the head-mark more often with the mirror present than absent, but no mark touches were emitted while looking at the mirror.