Validation of the multiple-choice procedure for investigating drug reinforcement in humans

Three experiments demonstrated the validity of studying drug reinforcement in humans by using a novel Multiple-Choice Procedure. The distinguishing characteristic of the procedure is that it arranges intermittent reinforcement for choices between pairs of potential reinforcers (e.g., drug vs. money). A series of manipulations was conducted, the outcomes of which were predicted on the basis of a well-established literature on operant behavior maintained by food and drug. Specifically, the experiments manipulated reinforcer availability (i.e., extinction), deprivation versus satiation, and reinforcer magnitude in cigarette smokers and demonstrated the predicted changes in cigarette reinforcement as measured by the Multiple-Choice Procedure. Finally, the reinforcer magnitude manipulation was concurrently studied using a conventional two-option choice procedure and the results were shown to be virtually identical to those with the Multiple-Choice Procedure.