Multiple variable interval schedule behaviour in humans: effects of ethanol, mood, and reinforcer size on responding maintained by monetary reinforcement

Ethanol is an effective reinforcer but, in common with other drugs of abuse, it may derive some of its reinforcing properties from the effects it has on behaviour maintained by other reinforcers. However, any assessment of ethanolʼs hypothesized effect on behaviour maintained by other reinforcers must take into account the fact that ethanol may have multiple mechanisms of action. In order to address this problem the experiments reported herein used a procedure based upon Herrnsteinʼs Matching Law which allowed joint assessment of subjectsʼ motor capacity and reinforcer sensitivity. The effect of ethanol (0, 0.3, and 0.6 g/kg) on motor capacity and reinforcer sensitivity was assessed by studying behaviour maintained by monetary reinforcement. In the first experiment the procedure was validated by showing that the behaviour of subjects was sensitive to changes in reinforcer value and in the second experiment 0.6 g/kg ethanol reduced motor capacity but did not affect reinforcer sensitivity. As a secondary hypothesis we also studied the effect of mood on reinforcer sensitivity and motor capacity. It was found that lower mood scores (lower hedonic tone) were associated with reduced reinforcer sensitivity and that male subjects showed higher motor capacity than females. However, there was also a mood by sex interaction, which indicated that higher motor capacity in males was only found in the presence of lower mood scores. The results are discussed in relation to the mechanisms of ethanolʼs dopaminergic effects, interactions between ethanol and other drugs of abuse, and the changes in reinforcer sensitivity which are thought to occur in depression.