Our measure of behavioral efficiency, choice sipper access time per trial, showed effects of both delay and alcohol preference. Greater impulsive choice, both with longer delays and in high-drinking lines, resulted in losses in sipper access time. This relationship demonstrates that the inability to wait for delayed rewards has detrimental consequences in this task. In the case of human impulsive choice, this behavior may manifest itself as the choice to drink when this will result in later loss of other sources of reinforcement, such as drinking on the job, choosing immediate intoxication over recreational activities, or choosing drug use over human relationships.
