As a behavioral pharmacologist, I study the effects of drugs, especially drugs of abuse, on ongoing behavior of pigeons and rats. Many drugs of abuse disrupt ongoing behavior and when these drugs are repeatedly administered tolerance may develop to this behavioral disruption. That is, a given dose of the drug no longer produces its initial effect and a larger dose of the drug now is required to produce that effect. The development of tolerance to the disruptive effects of the drug may be an important variable in habitual drug use. I am interested in how behavioral variables, such as, response effort, unit price, magnitude of reinforcement, and response/reinforcement dependency, affect the development of tolerance to drugs such as morphine and amphetamine. Additionally, I am interested in how drugs of abuse affect choice behavior and decision making. Stimulant drugs (e.g., amphetamine) often decrease “impulsive” choices, that is, instead of choosing an immediate, but small reinforcer (“impulsivity”), subjects tend to choose a delayed but larger reinforcer (“self-control”) more often. In a series of experiments in collaboration with colleagues in New Zealand, we are investigating effects of amphetamine and other stimulant drugs on such choices and on timing.

I am also interested in college-education practices and, over the past few years, I have been evaluating different teaching formats in undergraduate education.

Teaching

I have taught Psy 350: Principles of Behavior Change and Psy 355: Introduction to Experimental Psychology, and I will be teaching Psy 417: Psychology of Learning. I also enjoy working with undergraduate students on Directed Individual Studies (Psy 491) in which they can participate in the research in our lab. I currently am the faculty advisor for UNCW’s chapter of Psi Chi: The National Honor Society in Psychology.

Select Publications

Ta W-M, Pitts, R. C., Hughes, C. E., McLean, A. P., & Grace, R. C. (in press). Rapid acquisition of preference in concurrent chains:  Effects of d-amphetamine on sensitivity to reinforcement delay. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Bennett, J. A., Hughes, C. E., & Pitts, R. C. (2007). Effects of methamphetamine on response rate: A microstructural analysis.  Behavioural Processes, 75, 199-205.

Maguire, D. R., Hughes, C. E., & Pitts, R. C.  (2007). Rapid acquisition of preference in concurrent schedules: Effects of reinforcement amount.  Behavioural Processes, 75, 213-219.

Hughes, C. E., Sigmon, S. C., Pitts, R. C., & Dykstra, L. A. (2005). Morphine tolerance as a function of ratio schedule: Response requirement or unit price?  Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 83, 281-296.

Hughes, C. E., Ariely, D., & Eckerman, D. A. (1999). The Joy of Experimental Psychology.  (2nd Ed.) Dubuque, IA:  Kendall/Hunt Publishing.