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Money as a tool to extinguish conditioned responses to cocaine in addicts
Author(s) -
Hamilton Mary E.,
Voris John C.,
Sebastian Praxedes S.,
Singha Amrita K.,
Krejci Laura P.,
Elder Ivan R.,
Allen Johnny E.,
Beitz James E.,
Covington Karen R.,
Newton Angus E.,
Price Laura T.,
Tillman Evelyn,
Hernandez Linda L.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4679(199802)54:2<211::aid-jclp10>3.0.co;2-m
Subject(s) - psychology , addiction , clinical psychology , psychiatry
Classical conditioning principles offer a nondrug way to treat cocaine dependence. Eleven male subjects with the primary diagnosis of cocaine dependence were placed into one of two groups. The experimental group was asked to handle $500 cash in a mock budgetary task. The control group was asked to just imagine handling and budgeting the money. The subjects rated their craving‐related feelings before and after each task. The experimental group showed significantly more craving after the money‐handling task as compared to the control group, and the scores improved with time and as more tasks were completed. These data show that craving induced by handling cash is powerful and can be attenuated, at least on a short‐term basis, using classical extinction procedures. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 54: 211–218, 1998.