Environmental cues can indirectly acquire cocaine-eliciting changes in Heart Rate: A pilot study of derived relational responding, the transfer of function among cocaine users

Abstract

Identifying the processes by which environmental stimuli can come to influence drug use is important for developing more efficacious interventions. This study investigated derived relational responding and the transfer of differential conditioned effects of environmental stimuli paired with "smoked" cocaine in accordance with the relations of symmetry, transitivity, and equivalence using Heart Rate as the measure of conditioning among 12 adults with significant histories of cocaine use. Match-to-sample (MTS) procedures were used to test for emergent relations among two four-member stimulus groupings. One member of a group was then paired with 25-mg of smoked cocaine and one member of the other group was paired with 0-mg of smoked cocaine. 10 participants completed the MTS protocol: 4 participants demonstrated two four-member equivalence classes, 3 participants demonstrated two three-member equivalence classes and 2 participants demonstrated symmetry only. One participant demonstrated no derived relations. Differential respondent elicited changes in HR was demonstrated in the presence of stimuli paired with smoked cocaine among 4 of the 6 participants completing the conditioning phase; all 4 of the participants demonstrated a bi-directional transfer of these functions in accordance with symmetry. Transfer was not reliably demonstrated in accordance with transitive or equivalence relations. The results suggest that drug respondent elicitation in the context of drug use may be a function of both direct conditioning and relational processes. These findings have implications for studying and understanding the processes by which stimuli in the natural ecology can set the occasion for cocaine use and developing cocaine use disorder.

Keywords: Cocaine Use Disorders; Derived Relations; Respondent Conditioning; Stimulus Equivalence; Transfer of Respondent Eliciting Functions.

Fig 1

The percentage of correct responses on the training and testing trial blocks during each of the three MTS sessions. Baseline conditional discrimination trials (AB, BC), derived relation probes for the 3-mixed testing blocks (Symmetry (SYM), Transitivity (TRAN), Equivalence (EQUIV)), the extension conditional discrimination training (DA), and derived relation probes for the 4-mixed testing blocks (SYM, TRAN, EQUIV) are presented on the horizontal axis. The vertical axis presents the percentage of correct responses across all the probes for each relation. Participants are grouped according to their performance on the derived relations probes in the mixed testing blocks (panels a, b, and c). Demonstrated mastery performance indicating emergent equivalence in a mixed-probe testing block is denoted by *.

Fig 1

The percentage of correct responses on the training and testing trial blocks during each of the three MTS sessions. Baseline conditional discrimination trials (AB, BC), derived relation probes for the 3-mixed testing blocks (Symmetry (SYM), Transitivity (TRAN), Equivalence (EQUIV)), the extension conditional discrimination training (DA), and derived relation probes for the 4-mixed testing blocks (SYM, TRAN, EQUIV) are presented on the horizontal axis. The vertical axis presents the percentage of correct responses across all the probes for each relation. Participants are grouped according to their performance on the derived relations probes in the mixed testing blocks (panels a, b, and c). Demonstrated mastery performance indicating emergent equivalence in a mixed-probe testing block is denoted by *.

Fig 1

The percentage of correct responses on the training and testing trial blocks during each of the three MTS sessions. Baseline conditional discrimination trials (AB, BC), derived relation probes for the 3-mixed testing blocks (Symmetry (SYM), Transitivity (TRAN), Equivalence (EQUIV)), the extension conditional discrimination training (DA), and derived relation probes for the 4-mixed testing blocks (SYM, TRAN, EQUIV) are presented on the horizontal axis. The vertical axis presents the percentage of correct responses across all the probes for each relation. Participants are grouped according to their performance on the derived relations probes in the mixed testing blocks (panels a, b, and c). Demonstrated mastery performance indicating emergent equivalence in a mixed-probe testing block is denoted by *.

Figure 2.

All baseline and derived relation probes that were presented during the 3-mixed-probe test blocks and 4-mixed-probe test blocks are along the horizontal axis. The vertical axis presents the average response time for a specified relation probe in seconds. Participants are grouped according to the equivalence relations evidenced during the mixed-probe test blocks (panels a, b, and c).

Figure 2.

All baseline and derived relation probes that were presented during the 3-mixed-probe test blocks and 4-mixed-probe test blocks are along the horizontal axis. The vertical axis presents the average response time for a specified relation probe in seconds. Participants are grouped according to the equivalence relations evidenced during the mixed-probe test blocks (panels a, b, and c).

Figure 2.

All baseline and derived relation probes that were presented during the 3-mixed-probe test blocks and 4-mixed-probe test blocks are along the horizontal axis. The vertical axis presents the average response time for a specified relation probe in seconds. Participants are grouped according to the equivalence relations evidenced during the mixed-probe test blocks (panels a, b, and c).

Figure 3.

Changes in heart rate (HR) during the respondent conditioning and test for transfer sessions. Changes in HR are presented for each cocaine dose (light gray 25mg; dark gray 0mg) during the first trial in the first conditioning session for that dose, the first trial in fourth conditioning session for that dose (left-side panel), and for each of the stimuli presented during the test for transfer session (right-side panel) on the horizontal axis. The vertical axis presents the magnitude of change in beats per minute between a participant’s HR during the baseline period of a given session and in the presence of a given stimulus during the test for transfer session. Participants are grouped according to the type of derived relations demonstrated during the mixed or serial testing blocks.