Alcoholism researchers in the past 35 years have emphasized abstinence as the major criterion of treatment success. In recent years, however, this emphasis has been questioned and from the current debate over treatment goals and outcome measures at least two areas of controversy have emerged. The first, called the "abstention-moderation"…

Briefly reviews the research literature concerning the overjustification effect. The effect describes the situation where positive reinforcement reduces one's intrinsic motivation for a behavior, thereby decreasing the probability that the behavior will be repeated. Notes the limitations of this explanation and recommends a broader representation…