Reconsidering the concept of behavioral mechanisms of drug action.
Use quantitative contingency models to predict and explain how any drug changes behavior.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Friman (2014) wrote a theory paper. The author asked: what do we really mean by "behavioral mechanisms of drug action"?
The paper says the field needs clear, math-based models. These models should show how drugs and contingencies interact.
What they found
The finding is a call to action. Define your terms, then use numbers.
If you can model the contingency, you can predict how a drug will shift behavior.
How this fits with other research
Capaldi (1992) and Baum (2002) already pushed physics-style and molar models. Friman (2014) extends their logic into pharmacology.
Shimp (2020) unites moment-to-moment and session data with simulations. Friman (2014) wants the same rigor for drug studies.
Goodwin et al. (2025) show real-world contingency-management plans must change as drugs get stronger. Friman (2014) gives the blueprint: build a model first, then adjust the plan.
Why it matters
You can’t just say "the med made him calm." You need a model that shows how the reinforcer rate, delay, or magnitude changed. Start graphing response rates before and after dose changes. Add contingency details to your report. This turns a vague claim into a testable rule you can share with prescribers.
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Join Free →Plot each client’s response rate across sessions and mark dose changes; note the reinforcer schedule in the same graph.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
A half-century of research in behavioral pharmacology leaves little doubt that behavior-environment contingencies can determine the behavioral effects of drugs. Unfortunately, a coherent behavior-analytic framework within which to characterize the myriad ways in which contingencies interact with drugs, and to predict effects of a given drug under a given set of conditions, still has not developed. Some behavioral pharmacologists have suggested the concept of behavioral mechanisms of drug action as a foundation for such a framework. The notion of behavioral mechanisms, however, does not seem to have been fully embraced by behavioral pharmacologists. It is suggested here that one reason for this is that the concept itself has not been sufficiently clarified (i.e., stimulus control over use of the phrase is not sufficiently precise). Furthermore, early behavioral pharmacologists may not have possessed an adequate set of analytic tools to develop a viable framework based upon behavior mechanisms. In the first part of this paper, the notion of behavioral mechanisms of drug action is explored, and the sort of data that might provide evidence of a behavioral mechanism is considered. In the second part, it is suggested that the increased availability of quantitative models in behavior analysis may help provide the tools needed for elucidating behavioral mechanisms of drug action. Some examples of how these models have been, and could be used are provided.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 2014 · doi:10.1002/jeab.80