Chemical aversion conditioning in the treatment of alcoholism: further comments.

The literature on consummatory aversion (CA) conditioning in rats does provide a well-developed theoretical foundation for chemical aversion conditioning. Nevertheless, differences between rats and humans in CA learning suggest caution in extrapolating from the animal laboratory to the treatment of alcoholic patients. Serious methodological problems with studies of emetic therapy with alcoholics preclude unambiguous evaluation of its effects. Emetic therapy is an intrusive and relatively costly form of treatment which has not been shown to be more effective than alternative, less costly methods. The onus is on proponents of this method to demonstrate its specific advantages over alternative treatments.