Introduction to behavioral pharmacology

255 Pages·2000·0.942 MB·English

by  Byrne, Thomas, Poling, Alan Dale

US $44.95 Psychology POLING
BYRNE
Introduction
Understand How
I
Prescription drugs n
to Behavioral
t
influence Behavior
r
o
Pharmacology
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of substances that are d
used to modify behavior. While different classes of substances u
have known effects, one has only to see a group of people c
drinking to excess to recognize that not everyone responds in the t
i
same way to a given substance. Why do substances have the o
behavioral effects they do, and why do individuals vary in their n
responses to them? This book provides a conceptual framework
t
for answering such questions. It includes the following chapters: o

B
• Thomas Byrne and Alan Poling on principles of e
behavior analysis h
• Alan Poling and Thomas Byrne on principles of pharmacology a
• Lisa Baker, Thomas Morgan, and Alan Poling on v
i
neuropharmacology o
• Alan Poling and Thomas Byrne on assessing drug effects r
in non-humans a
• Susan Snycerski, Sean Laraway, and Alan Poling on basic l

P
research with humans
h
• Alan Poling, Thomas Byrne, and Thomas Morgan on the
a
stimulus properties of drugs
r
• Alan Poling on the variables that influence drug action m
• Scott H. Kollins, Kristal Ehrhardt, and Alan Poling on clinical
a
drug assessment c
• Sean Laraway, Susan Snycerski, Thomas Byrne, and Alan o
Poling on drug abuse l
ISBN-13: 978-1878978-36-3 o
ISBN-10: 1-878978-36-5
g
edited by
5 4 4 9 5 y

Alan Poling
CONTEXT Thomas Byrne
CONTEXT PRESS PRESS
www.contextpress.com
9 781878 978363
Introduction to
Behavioral
Pharmacology
For Jessie, Catherine, and the Dragons
Introduction to
Behavioral
Pharmacology
Edited by
Alan Poling
Western Michigan University
and
Thomas Byrne
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
C P
ONTEXT RESS
Reno, Nevada
iv
__________________________________________________________________
Introduction to Behavioral Pharmacology
Paperback 253 pp. Includes bibliographies.
Distributed by New Harbinger Publications, Inc.
________________________________________________________________________
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Introduction to Behavioral Pharmacology/ edited by Alan Poling and Thomas
Byrne.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references
ISBN-13: 978-1-878978-36-3
ISBN-10: 1-878978-36-5
1. Pharmacology. 2. Behavior Analysis.
I. Poling, Alan, 1950- II. Byrne, Thomas, 1972-
RM315.I588 2000
615.78--dc21 00-025399 CIP
________________________________________________________________________
© 2000 CONTEXT PRESS
933 Gear Street, Reno, NV 89503-2729
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.
v
Preface
On superficial examination, it appears that drugs, like gods, work in mysterious
ways. One has only to see a group of people drinking in excess to recognize that not
everyone responds in the same way to a given substance. Some drunks are aggressive,
others are maudlin. More than a few are depressive or amorous. What makes them
different? This is the kind of question than interests behavioral pharmacologists, and
it is the purpose of this book to provide a conceptual framework adequate for
answering such questions. The reader who masters its contents won’t be able to
provide a detailed explanation of why S. F. cries and F. S. sings when they are in the
hops, but he or she will have a better understanding of how drugs produce their
behavioral effects, and of the many variables that influence drug action. Such
information is worth having, for we are constantly exposed to, and affected by, drugs.
Introduction to Behavioral Pharmacology comprises 10 chapters. Chapter 1 de-
scribes the fundamental features of behavioral pharmacology, which combines
procedures and concepts of behavior analysis and pharmacology to explore and
explain the behavioral effects of drugs, and summarizes important historical events
in the field’s development. Chapter 2 introduces behavior analysis and Chapter 3
does the same for pharmacology. Chapter 4 describes how drugs affect the brain and
how these actions relate to behavior change. Chapters 5 and 6 summarize procedures
commonly used by behavioral pharmacologists to study drug effects in nonhumans
and humans, respectively. Chapter 7 describes how drugs affect behavior by acting
as functional stimuli in the context of respondent and operant conditioning.
Chapter 8 summarizes the variables that may influence the effects of a given drug.
Chapter 9 considers how behavioral pharmacology can contribute to the evaluation
of psychotropic drugs, which are medications prescribed to deal with behavior
disorders, including mental illness. Chapter 10 discusses drug abuse from the
perspective of behavioral pharmacology. To aid students, important terms appear in
bold-faced type throughout the book.
Introduction to Behavioral Pharmacology is written for people with no special
training in pharmacology or behavior analysis, although at least passing familiarity
with the latter area will make certain sections easier to understand. The book is an
edited text, but all chapters were contributed by faculty and students from the
Psychology Department at Western Michigan University, and one of us (AP) is a co-
author of each chapter. Our aim was to minimize the unevenness characteristic of
edited texts, while retaining the breadth of coverage that multiple contributors bring
to a work. If we have succeeded in either regard, it is due largely to the good efforts
of those who worked with us. We thank them. We also thank Steve Hayes for his
patience in allowing us to complete this project years after our promised date of
completion. Finally, and most importantly, we thank Catherine, Jessie, Serah, and
Kristal for their love and support, which make all efforts worthwhile.
Alan Poling and Thomas Byrne
Spring 2000
vi
Table of Contents
Preface .......................................................................................................................... v
Chapter 1: .......................................................................................................................... 9
Introduction
Alan Poling
Western Michigan University
Chapter 2: .......................................................................................................................... 25
Principles of Behavior Analysis
Thomas Byrne and Alan Poling
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Western Michigan University
Chapter 3: .......................................................................................................................... 43
Principles of Pharmacology
Alan Poling and Thomas Byrne
Western Michigan University
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Chapter 4: .......................................................................................................................... 65
Neuropharmacology
Lisa Baker, Thomas Morgan, and Alan Poling
Western Michigan University
Chapter 5: ......................................................................................................................87
Assessing Drug Effects in Nonhumans
Alan Poling and Thomas Byrne
Western Michigan University
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Chapter 6: .......................................................................................................................... 111
Basic Research With Humans
Susan Snycerski, Sean Laraway, and Alan Poling
Western Michigan University
Chapter 7: .....................................................................................................................141
Stimulus Properties of Drugs
Alan Poling, Thomas Byrne, and Thomas Morgan
Western Michigan University
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
vii
Chapter 8: ....................................................................................................................167
Variables that Influence Drug Action
Alan Poling
Western Michigan University
Chapter 9: ....................................................................................................................191
Clinical Drug Assessment
Scott H. Kollins, Kristal Ehrhardt, and Alan Poling
Western Michigan University
Chapter 10: ....................................................................................................................219
Drug Abuse
Sean Laraway, Susan Snycerski, Thomas Byrne, and Alan Poling
Western Michigan University
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
viii
Introduction 9
Chapter 1
Introduction
Alan Poling
Western Michigan University
The discipline known as behavioral pharmacology uses methods and concepts
from behavior analysis to explore and explain the behavioral effects of drugs.
Behavior analysis is a unique natural science approach to the study of behavior
popularized by B. F. Skinner (e.g., 1938, 1953, 1974). Because behavior analysis
forms the theoretical and methodological foundation of behavioral pharmacology,
it deserves careful attention. This chapter summarizes the behavior analytic ap-
proach to understanding behavior in general, and considers how this approach is
used to analyze drug effects.
The Science of Behavior Analysis
Like several other early psychologists, Skinner argued that the best way to
understand human behavior is to study it from the perspective of the natural
sciences. The specific perspective that he advocated has been both influential and
controversial. Many psychologists and laypeople criticize what they believe to be
Skinner’s position, but in fact they are objecting to views that he never held. Others,
of course, actually understand behavior analysis and are opposed to it, usually on
philosophical grounds. Table 1-1 summarizes what behavior analysis as developed
by Skinner is and is not; the balance of this section justifies the contents of the table.
When he died in 1990, Skinner was the most well known psychologist ever to
live. Shortly before he died, the American Psychological Association (APA) awarded
him its lifetime achievement award, the only such award ever given. It is ironic that
at the ceremony where Skinner received the APA’s Lifetime Achievement Award, he
lamented that psychology still had not become a natural science and that many
psychologists continued to try to explain behavior by referring to cognitive or
mental events, not the real causes of behavior. For Skinner, those causes were genetic,
physiological, and environmental variables.
Although Skinner recognized that genetic and physiological variables play a role
in controlling how an organism responds in a given situation, his own research and
theorizing focused on the relation between environmental events and behavior. He
focused on environmental events because:
1. Environmental variables clearly influence behavior.
2. Environmental variables are directly observable and can be studied with
the technology available.