Examination of the effects of chronic alcohol exposure on superstitious behavior in the rat.

Abstract

Past research has generally been supportive of the case for superstitious behavior in a laboratory setting. Experiments have been done with pigeons, rats, monkeys, and humans. The majority of the research suggests that superstitious behavior occurs when the subject experiences the illusion of control over circumstances such as reinforcement or termination of an aversive stimuli. In the case of the rat, research has demonstrated that the subject will perform a variety of behaviors prior to receiving a food reinforcement because those behaviors have been inadvertently or adventitiously reinforced. The animal behaves as ifit is the behaviors that are precipitating the delivery of the reinforcement when in fact the reinforcement is not contingent on any particular behavior. Research has also supported the belief that chronic exposure to alcohol results in numerous neurological impairments and cognitive deficits, including the inability to integrate information that permits the elimination of superfluous operant behavior. The present study investigated whether chronic alcohol exposure had any effect on superstitious behavior in-the laboratory rat. This study showed that there was a marginally significant increase in superstitious responding between pre and post alcohol animals on the fixed-time schedule relative to control subjects, but not for the alcohol treated rats that did not receive food reinforcement.