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COMPARING SINGLE AND CUMULATIVE DOSING PROCEDURES IN HUMAN TRIAZOLAM DISCRIMINATORS
Author(s) -
Smith Brandi J.,
Bickel Warren K.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.1999.71-417
Subject(s) - triazolam , dosing , secobarbital , cumulative dose , crossover study , anesthesia , hypnotic , pharmacology , placebo , medicine , benzodiazepine , pentobarbital , receptor , alternative medicine , pathology
This study evaluated a cumulative dosing procedure for drug discrimination with human participants. Four participants learned to discriminate triazolam (0.35 mg/70 kg) from placebo. A crossover design was used to compare the results under a single dosing procedure with results obtained under a cumulative dosing procedure. Under the single dosing procedure, a dose of triazolam (0, 0.05, 0.15, or 0.35 mg/70 kg) or secobarbital (0, 25, 75, or 175 mg/70 kg) was administered 45 min before assessment. Determining each dose—effect curve thus required four sessions. Under the cumulative dosing procedure, four doses of triazolam (0, 0.05, 0.10, and 0.20 mg/70 kg) or secobarbital (0, 25, 50, and 100 mg/70 kg) were administered approximately 55 min apart, producing a complete dose—effect curve in one four‐trial session. Regardless of procedure, triazolam and secobarbital produced discriminative stimulus and self‐reported effects similar to previous single dosing studies in humans. Shifts to the right in cumulative dose—effect curves compared to single dose—effect curves occurred on several self‐report measures. When qualitative stimulus functions rather than quantitative functions are of interest, application of cumulative dosing may increase efficiency in human drug discrimination.