Identification of nonalcoholic and alcoholic beers: effects of consumption practices and beer brand

Response inhibition toward alcohol-related cues using an alcohol go/no-go task in problem and non-problem drinkers

BACKGROUND

Previous results suggested that alcohol abusers and alcohol dependent patients show cognitive biases in the treatment of alcohol-related cues, especially approach and inhibition deficit biases. Response inhibition was often tested using the go/no-go task in which the participants had to respond as quickly as possible to a class of stimuli (go stimuli) while refraining from responding to another class of stimuli (no-go stimuli). Previous studies assessing specific response inhibition deficits in the process of alcohol-related cues obtained conflicting results. The aims of the present study were to clarify response inhibition for alcohol cues in problem and non-problem drinkers, male and female and to test the effect of alcohol brand logos.

METHODS

Thirty-six non-problem drinker and thirty-five problem drinker undergraduate students completed a modified alcohol go/no-go task using alcohol and neutral object pictures, with or without brand logos, as stimuli. An additional control experiment was carried out to check whether participants' awareness that the study tested their response to alcohol might have biased the results.

RESULTS

All participants, whether problem or non-problem drinkers, showed significantly shorter mean reaction times when alcohol pictures are used as go stimuli and significantly higher percentages of commission errors (false alarms) when alcohol pictures are used as no-go stimuli. Identical effects were obtained in the control experiment when participants were unaware that the study focused on alcohol. Shorter reaction times to alcohol-related cues were observed in problem drinkers relative to non-problem drinkers but only in the experimental condition with no brand logos on alcohol pictures. The addition of alcohol brand logos further reduced reaction times in light drinkers, thereby masking group differences. There was a tendency for female problem drinkers to show higher rates of false alarms for alcohol no-go stimuli, although this effect was only very close to statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONS

All participants exhibited a cognitive bias in the treatment of alcohol cues that might be related to the positive emotional value of such alcohol-related cues. Stronger cognitive biases in the treatment of alcohol cues were observed in problem drinkers, although differences between problem and non-problem drinkers were relatively small-scale and required specific experimental parameters to be uncovered. In particular, the presence of alcohol brand logos on visual alcohol cues was an important experimental parameter that significantly affected behavioral responses to such stimuli.

Effects of nicotine deprivation on alcohol-related information processing and drinking behavior

This study examined the influence of smoking cues and nicotine deprivation on responses to alcohol among hazardous drinkers. Fifty-six daily smoking, hazardous drinkers were exposed to either smoking cues or control cues after either 6 hr of nicotine deprivation or no deprivation. Urges to drink alcohol, alcohol-related cognitive processing, and alcohol consumption were assessed after cue exposure. Results indicated that nicotine deprivation increased urges to drink, the accessibility of alcohol outcome expectancies, and the volume of alcohol consumed. There was little influence of the smoking cue manipulation on these processes. Implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying alcohol-tobacco interactions are discussed.

Compensatory responses to placebo vary with presumed personality "risk" for alcoholism and drinking habits

Physiological reactions of men who reported intoxication after consuming placebo beer were related to a personality index of presumed "risk" for alcoholism and drinking habits. Presumed personality "risk" varied with decreases in skin conductance. Those at higher "risk" showed a larger compensatory response. Drinking habits varied with decreases in skin temperature. Those who drank more showed larger changes. These results are consistent with work linking risk and compensatory responding, and support compensatory response theory. Nevertheless, these results were found only for a subset of subjects (24 of 81) who reported moderate intoxication after consuming the placebo, limiting generalizability.

In search of an alternative placebo: estimating alcohol content of nonalcoholic, light, and regular beer

Alcohol research has demonstrated that expectancies about what one has consumed may supercede pharmacological effects of the drink. The present study sought to expand the scope of the placebo designs by examining an alternative manipulation, using widely available nonalcoholic beverages. The nonalcoholic beers used in this study have recently become marketed and made available to consumers by two major breweries. Subjects were provided with a total of four beer samples: two nonalcoholic samples ("O'Doul's" and "Sharp's"), one light sample ("Busch Light"), and one regular sample ("Busch"). Results indicated that subjects estimated the alcohol content in "O'Doul's" as significantly lower than that of the light and regular beers; the estimate of alcohol content in Sharp's was not significantly lower than either the light or regular beers. In addition, the mean alcohol estimates for both nonalcoholic beers approximated the actual alcohol content of a light beer (roughly 3%). These results indicate that nonalcoholic beers may provide a viable alternative to the placebo manipulations currently in vogue.