Citation

Kang S, Larrabee G, Nair S, Goldfarb EV. Psychol. Sci. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Association for Psychological Science, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1177/09567976231181516

PMID

37682597

Abstract

Generalizing from past experiences to novel situations is critical for adaptive behavior, whereas overgeneralization can promote maladaptive responses (e.g., context-inappropriate fear in anxiety). Here, we propose that overgeneralizing alcohol-related associations characterizes risky drinking. We conducted two online experiments assessing generalization of alcohol-related gains (Study 1) and losses (Study 2) among individuals who engaged in light or risky patterns of drinking (Study 1: N = 88, 24-44 years old; Study 2: N = 87, 21-44 years old). After learning to associate cards with alcohol and non-alcohol-related outcomes, participants chose whether to play with cards varying in perceptual similarity to those shown during conditioning. Finally, participants completed a surprise recognition memory test for all outcomes. Although both groups showed comparable conditioning, we found that risky drinkers overgeneralized alcohol-related gains and losses. Risky drinkers also showed a bias toward recognizing alcohol-related images. These results indicate a novel role for overgeneralization of alcohol-related gains and losses as a mechanism associated with risky drinking.

Language: en

Keywords

learning; memory; emotions; associative processes; avoidance; cognitive processes; drug/substance abuse; motivation; open data; preregistered; rewards