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Sometimes we mind-wander to give our brains a break, but unintentional zoning
PRACTICE
Research Methods & Design
(SP 2)
(5 minutes) Explain to students
that expectancy effects are similar
to the placebo effect (covered in
Module 0.4). Both involve the mind
convincing the body that an effect
will occur. The effects that the body
expects may or may not result from
the drug, or the effects may be an
exaggerated result of the drug.
Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Not for redistribution.
PRACTICE
Argumentation (SP 4)
(Out of class) Have students
explore the advertising techniques
that alcohol distributors use. Ask
them to answer the following
questions:
• Is there a common theme in the
type of scenes depicted in the Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
ads? If so, describe it.
• To what type of audience is the
typical ad directed?
• Are there laws that limit what
alcohol advertising can depict?
Are there limits to where
distributors can advertise?
Ask students to write a one-
sentence conclusion based on
their research, citing the scien-
tifically derived evidence that
supports their claim. Bonus: You
can also do this activity with your
03_myersAPpsychology4e_28116_ch01_002_163.indd
students for tobacco companies.
44 Unit 1 Biological Bases of Behavior
03_HammerTE4e_47547_ch01_2a_163_4pp.indd 44
out — while driving, for example — can cause later regret (Seli et al., 2016). Alcohol also
focuses attention on an immediate arousing situation (say, provocation) and distracts
it from normal inhibitions and future consequences (Giancola et al., 2010; Steele &
Josephs, 1990).
Reduced self-awareness may help explain why people who want to suppress their
awareness of failures or shortcomings often drink more than do those who feel good about
themselves. Losing a business deal, a game, or a romantic partner sometimes elicits binge
drinking.
Expectancy Effects Expectations influence behavior. Adolescents — presuming that
alcohol will lift their spirits — sometimes drink when they’re upset and alone (Bresin et al.,
2018). But solitary drinking boosts their chance of developing a substance use disorder (Creswell
et al., 2014; Fairbairn & Sayette, 2014).
Simply believing we’re consuming alcohol can cause us to act out alcohol’s presumed
influence (Christiansen et al., 2016; Moss & Albery, 2009). In a classic experiment, research-
ers gave Rutgers University men (who had volunteered for a study on “alcohol and sexual
stimulation”) either an alcoholic or a nonalcoholic drink (Abrams & Wilson, 1983). (Both had
strong tastes that masked any alcohol.) After watching an erotic movie clip, the men who
thought they had consumed alcohol were more likely to report having strong sexual fantasies
and feeling guilt free. Being able to attribute their sexual responses to alcohol released their
inhibitions — whether or not they had actually consumed any alcohol. The point to remember:
Alcohol’s effect lies partly in that powerful sex organ, the mind.
Barbiturates
Like alcohol, the barbiturate drugs, which are tranquilizers, depress nervous system activ-
ity. Barbiturates such as Nembutal, Seconal, and Amytal are sometimes prescribed to induce
sleep or reduce anxiety. In larger doses, they can impair memory and judgment. If combined
with alcohol — say, a sleeping pill after an evening of heavy drinking — the total depressive
effect on body functions can be lethal.
Opioids
The opioids — opium and its derivatives — also depress neural functioning. Opioids include
heroin and its medically prescribed synthetic substitute, methadone. They also include
pain-relief narcotics such as codeine, OxyContin, Vicodin, and morphine (and morphine’s
dangerously powerful synthetic counterpart, fentanyl). As blissful pleasure replaces pain
and anxiety, the user’s pupils constrict and breathing slows; lethargy sets in. People
who become addicted to this short-term pleasure may pay a long-term price: a gnawing
craving for another fix, a need for progressively larger doses (as tolerance develops), and
the extreme discomfort of withdrawal. When repeatedly flooded with a synthetic opi-
oid, the brain eventually stops producing endorphins, its own natural opioids. If the arti-
ficial opioid is then withdrawn, the brain will lack the normal level of these painkilling
neurotransmitters.
barbiturates drugs that depress An alarming number of Americans have become unable or unwilling to tolerate this
central nervous system activity, state and have paid an ultimate price — death by overdose. Between 2013 and 2016, the
reducing anxiety but impairing U.S. rate of opioid overdose deaths increased almost 10 times to 43,036 (NIDA, 2018; NSC,
memory and judgment.
opioids opium and its 2019). “For the first time in U.S. history, a person is more likely to die from an accidental
opioid overdose than from a motor vehicle crash,” reported the National Safety Council in
derivatives; they depress neural 2019. The Covid pandemic increased stress, uncertainty, and social isolation that may have
activity, temporarily lessening
pain and anxiety. contributed to even more U.S. and Canadian opioid-related deaths in 2020 (Katz et al.,
2020; Schmunk, 2020).
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