According to Incentive-Sensitization Theory, what happens to incentive value as drug use continues?

• A. It decreases due to tolerance
• B. Memories of early experiences increase incentive value (wanting)
• C. It remains constant
• D. It becomes determined by genetics

Answer: (B)

Incentive-Sensitization Theory centers on wanting more than liking. As drug use continues, the brain’s dopamine systems become sensitized to cues linked with drug use. That makes memories and contexts from early experiences highly salient, so those cues acquire increasing motivational pull. In other words, the incentive value of those memories rises, fueling craving and drug-seeking even if the actual pleasure from the drug (liking) may decline with tolerance. So the best answer is that memories of early experiences increase incentive value (wanting). The other ideas don’t fit as well: tolerance mainly dulls hedonic effects, incentive value isn’t kept constant, and genetics isn’t the primary driver of the progressive rise in cue-driven wanting.