Abstract

ROGER SANCHEZ, Concepción; GARCIA PARDO, María Pilar  and  AGUILAR CALPE, María Asunción. Conditioned place preference: an animal model of motivational properties of drugs. Escritos de Psicología [online]. 2016, vol.9, n.2, pp.53-62. ISSN 1989-3809.  https://dx.doi.org/10.5231/psy.writ.2016.0906.

This article investigated the Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) technique as a useful model for studying the motivational properties of drugs of abuse. The background of the technique is presented. Methodological issues that need to be considered when designing a study using CPP are discussed. These issues include the different types of apparatus available, the different phases of the protocol and its possible variations, the type of design (biased vs unbiased), and the need to consider time effects. We discuss data interpretation issues, such what the animal learns, the presentation of the dependent variable, the influence of novelty, state-dependent learning, latent inhibition, the motor and cognitive effects of drugs, and comparison with data from the drug self-administration model. The main applications, advantages, and limitations of the technique are presented. We offer some proposals to address the main criticisms of this model.

Keywords : reward; reinforcement; conditioning; preference; CPP; learning.

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