The “medicinal effect”: A possible mechanism in the development of severe alcohol dependence

Abstract

An examination of the change in attractiveness of a flavor subsequent to pairing with recuperation from malaise was undertaken. Forty-five subjects consumed a flavor after the rotation-induced motion sickness at two different intervals. Twenty-four consumed, on three separate conditioning trials, the paired flavor immediately as malaise began to decline (short-delay group), the remainder, when malaise had completely diminished (long-delay group). All subjects also consumed an unpaired flavor the morning after each session. Analysis of variance revealed that the paired flavor was rated as more highly attractive than the unpaired flavor, and this effect was only present in the short delay group. These results were taken as supporting the existence of conditioned flavor preferences in humans and interpreted as a possible learning mechanism in the development of severe alcohol dependence.