Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026
08:45
Modeling Alcohol Consumption in Rodents Using Two-Bottle Choice Home Cage Drinking and Microstructural Analysis
Published on: November 8, 2024
Students' drinker prototypes and alcohol use in a naturalistic setting
Renske Spijkerman1, Helle Larsen, Frederick X Gibbons
1Department of Developmental Psychopathology, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. r.spijkerman@pwo.ru.nl
Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research
|October 29, 2009
Summary
Young adults
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Public Health
Background:
- Perceptions of drinker prototypes influence young people's motivation for alcohol use.
- Previous research links drinker prototypes to adolescent and young adult alcohol consumption, but evidence is inconclusive.
- Self-reported data in prior studies may introduce bias due to memory and social desirability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of drinker prototypes on young adults' drinking patterns.
- To utilize a less obtrusive method for assessing alcohol consumption in a naturalistic setting.
- To examine the relationship between drinker prototypes and both self-reported and observed drinking behavior.
Main Methods:
- Assessed drinker prototypes, past self-reported alcohol use, and observed alcohol intake in a bar lab setting.
- Included 200 college students in the study.
- Employed correlations and multilevel analyses to examine relationships between prototypes and drinking behavior.
Main Results:
- Drinker prototypes correlated with both self-reported and observed alcohol use.
- Friend group drinking patterns significantly influenced individual consumption in the bar lab.
- After controlling for group effects, only heavy drinker prototypes remained associated with observed alcohol intake.
Conclusions:
- Drinker prototypes are valuable predictors of young adult drinking behavior.
- Motivation for alcohol consumption in real-world settings is linked to perceptions of heavy drinkers.
Related Concept Videos
01:16Experimental Designs
An experimental design is a systematic process that allows researchers to evaluate the relationship between dependent and independent variables. There are three widely used types of experimental design - pre-experimental design, true experimental design, and quasi-experimental design. In pre-experimental design, the researcher compares the data before and after some interventions or treatments. The true-experimental design has more than one purposefully created group, a commonly measured...
01:27Production of Alcohol
Continuous fermentation is a key strategy in industrial ethanol production, particularly when efficiency, scalability, and high yields are essential. This approach allows for uninterrupted operation and optimized resource utilization. The primary feedstock, corn starch, undergoes enzymatic hydrolysis facilitated by α-amylase and glucoamylase. These enzymes break down the starch into fermentable sugars such as glucose, which are readily assimilated by fermentative microorganisms.Fermentation...
02:30Naturalistic Observations
If you want to understand how behavior occurs, one of the best ways to gain information is to simply observe the behavior in its natural context. However, people might change their behavior in unexpected ways if they know they are being observed. How do researchers obtain accurate information when people tend to hide their natural behavior? As an example, imagine that your professor asks everyone in your class to raise their hand if they always wash their hands after using the restroom. Chances...