Sexually dimorphic effect of an acute smoking manipulation on skin resistance but not on heart-rate during a cognitive verbal task.

In a two-day, two-session experiment where smokers male and female college-student subjects worked on a cognitive verbal task during either the first or second day, and on a cognitive spatial task on the second or first day, smoking was manipulated as an acute independent variable by requiring 10+ hours of pre-experimental abstention, and providing a cigarette during the 15-minute rest period between the two sessions. Non-smoker female and male subjects underwent the same experiment, and hence served as controls for the effects of this acute-smoking manipulation. Overall adaptation (decreased arousal) to the experiment was manifested in a significant increase in skin resistance level (SRL) in all subjects, but when this adaptation effect was statistically controlled, there was a significant smokers by sex interaction during the verbal task only, such that SRL was increased by the cigarette in males, but decreased in females. In contrast, the same analysis indicated only a marked increase in heart-rate (HR) due to smoking, which was unaffected either by sex or by whether the task was the verbal or the (easier) spatial one. We interpret the SRL results as reflecting a sex difference in the direction of transient psychological arousal, and discuss it in relation to evidence in the literature based on self reports, and to evidence (based on HR in this study and on blood pressure in other studies) on physiological (cardiovascular) arousal. Key Words: Electrodermal activity, heart-rate, psychological vs. physiological, verbal and spatial cognitive tasks.     

Effects of nicotine administration via a sublingual tablet on arousal and verbal ability in non‐smokers

Tobacco smoking or nicotine administration on its own can influence cognitive task performance. This study examined the effects of acute nicotine administration on verbal task performance and a physiological index of arousal. Healthy non‐smoking participants received either a 2‐mg sublingual nicotine tablet or placebo. Participants next completed various verbal tasks while heart rate recordings were taken concurrently. Nicotine increased heart rate relative to a pre‐administration baseline period, indicating that the new method of nicotine administration increased cardiovascular arousal. Nicotine was associated with reduced accuracy in a verbal matching task and reduced accuracy and increased reaction time in an anagram task, but had no effect on performance during an analogy or verbal fluency task. The data suggest that nicotine‐naïve individuals are unlikely to gain any benefit to their verbal ability from the single acute intake of nicotine, such as that obtained from cigarette smoking or by using nicotine replacement therapy products.     

Effects of tobacco smoking on electroencephalographic, auditory evoked and event related potentials

After overnight abstinence, tobacco smokers smoked an average nicotine yield cigarette and nonsmokers sham smoked an unlit placebo cigarette. EEG alpha(1), delta, and theta frequency amplitudes decreased, whereas alpha(2) and beta frequency amplitude increased. Short, middle (EP) and long latency ERP were also studied in nonsmokers and smokers just after smoking, and after overnight abstinence from tobacco. Short latency potentials were unaffected by tobacco smoking or abstinence. Middle and long-latency potentials were reduced during abstinence and enhanced immediately after tobacco smoking. These findings indicate that compared to nonsmokers smokers have a higher arousal level after smoking than when partially abstinent. Evidence for both normalization from tobacco abstinence as well as stimulation was obtained.     

Effects of smoking and nicotine on EEG lateralization as a function of personality

The effects of nicotine/smoking on lateralization of the EEG were evaluated in 40 smokers while they responded to a low-stress, visual vigilance task. Smoking a high-nicotine cigarette was associated with a relatively larger increase in right hemisphere EEG arousal in extraverts and Type-A individuals, but with a relatively larger increase in left hemisphere EEG arousal in introverts and Type Bs. These findings suggest that nicotine/smoking may differentially influence the left and right hemispheres and that this interaction may be a function of personality.     

The effects of self-modeling on cigarette smoking behavior

Two studies of self-modeling are described. Study 1 investigated whether self-modeling would inhibit cigarette smoking behavior. Fourteen cigarette smokers (four males and 10 females) served as subjects for a repeated-measures design. In the self-modeling condition, the subjects watched themselves on a television monitor while smoking; in the control condition, they watched a short cartoon film on the same monitor, also while smoking. The following were measured: (1) the amount of tobacco consumed, (2) the amount of time lit cigarettes were in contact with the subjects’ lips, and (3) the subjects’ physiological responses (GSRs). Study 2 investigated the role of cognitive factors in self-modeling. It followed much the same self-modeling procedures as Study 1. However, unlike Study 1, it incorporated a manipulated cognitive variable: attitudes toward cigarette smoking. Self-modeling reduced the amount of smoking relative to the control condition in Study 1. In Study 2 it was found that cognitive factors influenced the amount of smoking. Smoking increased in subjects supplied with information favorable to smoking, whereas it decreased in those supplied with information unfavorable to smoking. These findings and additional research on the efficacy of self-modeling relative to other procedures suggest the importance of cognitive factors in self-modeling.     

Individual differences in cognition: Some relationships between personality and memory

Individual differences in cognition were studied in the form of the hypothesis that arousal, as indexed by personality measures of extraversion and neuroticism, affects the way in which verbal material is organized in memory. Subjects pretested on measures of these personality variables participated in either a paired-associates learning or a free-recall experiment. On the paired-associates task, subjects who were thought to be high on arousal made fewer errors when response terms were semantically similar than low arousal subjects. On the other hand, subjects thought low on arousal made fewer errors when response words were phonetically similar than high arousal subjects. On the free-recall task, low arousal subjects were found to cluster words together on the basis of semantic category at a higher rate than high arousal subjects. These results were taken to support the view that high arousal (as indexed by personality measures) leads to a focus on the physical aspects of verbal material, whereas low arousal leads to a memory organized around semantic aspects. The implications of these findings for other views of memory are discussed.     

The effects of smoking and urinary pH on a detection task

Performance was measured in a detection task over a period of 50 min. Subjects were either non-smokers or smoked more than 15 cigarettes per day. No smoking was allowed during the task, but smokers were all asked to smoke a cigarette immediately before doing it. One hour previously, subjects had been given a double-blind dose of a substance which would shift the pH of their urine either upwards or downwards, by small amounts sufficient to affect the rate of renal excretion of nicotine in the smokers. The pH manipulation had no effect on the performance of the non-smokers, who improved steadily throughout the task. After some 40 min of performance, the deprived smokers showed less improvement than the non-smokers, and the smokers whose urine had been made acid improved less than those whose had been made alkaline. The results are interpreted as evidence for a phasic effect on performance of small degrees of nicotine deprivation, which has consequences for theories of nicotine dependence.     

情绪效价和唤醒对熟悉性和回想的不同影响

本研究检验了情绪的效价和唤醒对记忆提取阶段熟悉性过程和回想过程的影响及其心理机制。结果发现,编码阶段无分心任务时,积极图片的高、低自信再认准确率均高于消极图片,而唤醒对于高自信再认准确率的影响只限于消极图片;在编码阶段设置分心任务时,发现积极和消极的高唤醒图片的高自信再认准确率显著高于低唤醒图片。这些结果说明情绪的效价影响了熟悉性和回想两类记忆过程,而唤醒只影响回想过程,效价效应是编码阶段被试调用认知资源对积极图片进行精细加工的结果,而唤醒对回想过程的影响是自动编码高唤醒刺激细节的结果。     

An investigative biobehavioral approach to sex differences in cognitive functioning

Advances in our biological understanding and control of cognitive functioning have not been matched in the behavioral realm. The bio-behavioral approach outlined in this paper helps to close this bio-behavioral gap by aiming for a taxonomic precision in psychology that is comparable to that in physiology. The approach is applied to the phenomenon of group sex differences, and is illustrated by referring to three sets of recently reported findings: (a) interactive effects of nicotine and sex on the trait of cognitive style; (b) sexually dimorphic cognitive style in rats and the involvement of nitric oxide as a potential physiological mechanism and (c) sexually dimorphic phasic arousal change induced by smoking a cigarette following deprivation.     

Observer states and traits and the imitative process: A test of a new formulation

In three studies the formulation was tested that characteristics of the observer have an effect on imitation only in situations which provide little information concerning appropriate or expected behaviors. In Experiment I, female college students of high, medium, and low need for social approval underwent either a high or low arousal manipulation. Subjects observed a videotaped model who engaged in a size judgment task. For half the subjects the model received verbal reward (high information); for the other half the model received no feedback (low information). Subsequently, the model and subject responded alternately in the task during which no feedback was given. Neither need for social approval nor manipulated arousal was found to be systematically related to imitation in either information condition. However, the hypothesized relationships were found when subjects' arousal or anxiety levels were determined by self ratings. These results were replicated in a second, similar experiment. In a third experiment, which involved an improved arousal manipulation, the hypothesized relationships were confirmed.     

The effect of smoking on sensory and attentional masking

This study examined the influence of smoking on low-level sensory and higher level visual cognitive abilities. Three groups (nonsmokers, deprived smokers, and nondeprived smokers) of 22 observers were tested using a visual target discrimination task. To assess sensory and visual cognitive differences, a masking task developed by Enns and Di Lollo (1997) was used. In the task, the target was masked by either a contour mask (contour masking) or an object mask (attentional masking by object substitution). The strongest masking effects were found in the group of nondeprived smokers, for both sensory and attentional masking. This pattern of results as well as results in the deprived smokers indicated changes in transient visual processing channels due to the acute actions of nicotine, not mediated by withdrawal relief.     

Is smoking automatic? Demands of smoking behavior on attentional resources

The role of attention in the production of smoking behavior was investigated. Experienced and novice smokers were asked to perform a reaction time (RT) task under 4 conditions: while smoking (smoking), while mimicking all aspects of smoking except inhaling (pseudosmoking), while simply holding a cigarette (holding), and while not smoking (baseline). Experienced smokers' RTs increased during the pseudosmoking and holding conditions compared with baseline but did not differ between the smoking and baseline conditions, suggesting that attentional resources were not required for typical smoking behavior but were required to alter or inhibit smoking behavior. Novice smokers' RTs were slower during both the smoking and pseudosmoking conditions but not the holding condition, suggesting that novice smokers require the use of resources to smoke. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the differences in RT across conditions could not be explained by differences in urges.     

Immediate antecedents of cigarette smoking: an analysis from ecological momentary assessment

The authors assessed the association between smoking and situational cues, including affect, in real-world contexts. Using ecological momentary assessment, 304 smokers monitored ad-lib smoking for 1 week, recording each cigarette on palm-top computers. Generalized estimating equations contrasted 10,084 smoking and 11,155 nonsmoking situations. After controlling for smoking restrictions, smoking was strongly related to smoking urges and modestly related to consumption of coffee and food, the presence of other smokers, and several activities. Smoking was unrelated to negative or positive affect or to arousal, although it was associated with restlessness. Thus, in daily life, affect appears to exert little influence over ad-lib smoking in heavy smoking adults.     

Dual Trajectories of Sleep Duration and Cigarette Smoking during Adolescence: Relation to Subsequent Internalizing Problems

Decreasing sleep duration and increasing cigarette smoking of adolescents are major public health concerns. However, research examining connections between the developmental trajectories of the outcomes that are evolving contemporaneously and their relation to long-term outcomes is still lacking. This study examined distinct trajectories of sleep duration and cigarette smoking during adolescence, associations between these trajectories, and links with internalizing problems during young adulthood. Data were collected from 2510 adolescents who participated in a longitudinal study spanning from 2006 through 2014 in northern Taiwan. Group-based dual trajectory modeling was used to examine the dynamic relationships between sleep duration and cigarette smoking trajectories during adolescence. Multiple linear regression was used to understand the association between the distinct trajectories and subsequent internalizing problems. Three sleep duration trajectories (short decreasing, typical sleep, and long sleep) and three cigarette smoking trajectories (nonsmokers, late increasing, and escalating smokers) were identified. We found significant inter-relationships for sleep duration and cigarette smoking trajectories during adolescence; all atypical sleep duration trajectories conferred increased risks of increased cigarette smoking and vice versa. In addition, the effects of sleep duration and cigarette smoking on later internalizing problems were found to vary by sex and trajectory patterns. These results provide insight regarding the co-development of sleep duration and cigarette smoking trajectories during adolescence. We also highlight the different roles of sleep duration and cigarette smoking trajectories and their relation to internalizing problems of young adulthood.     

Effect of Depressive Symptoms and Sex on the Relationship Between Loneliness and Cigarette Dependence: A Moderated Mediation

Loneliness is a subjective and emotionally unpleasant experience of perceiving insufficient social relationships. Previous research has revealed that loneliness constitutes a psychosocial risk factor for depression, and is also related to unhealthy behaviors such as smoking. This study aims to examine the relation between loneliness, depression, and cigarette dependence, and to explore the role of sex in this relationship. A total sample of 275 adult treatment-seeking daily smokers (Mage = 45.3; 61.5% females) was used. Our results showed a significant correlation between higher scores of loneliness, depressive symptoms, and cigarette dependence. In addition, mediation analysis showed a significant indirect effect of loneliness on cigarette dependence, via depressive symptoms. Regarding the effect of sex, we found that this variable significantly moderated the relationship between depressive symptoms and cigarette dependence. Results of this study extend previous literature by showing that, in treatment seeking smokers, loneliness is a significant predictor of depressive symptoms, and through this relation, it predicts cigarette dependence. Additionally, sex was a significant moderator of this relation. These findings have several clinical implications, and also contribute to the understanding of cigarette dependence, which is a well-known barrier for smoking cessation.     

Prevalence of cigarette smoking in Iran.

The current research assessed the prevalence of cigarette smoking in Shiraz, Iran by randomly selecting 1,335 subjects (782 men and 553 women) from the city for a face-to-face interview and completion of a questionnaire. Of the participants, 205 (26%) of the men and 20 (3.6%) of the women reported being current smokers. The mean ages of smokers and nonsmokers were 41.8 and 37.0 yr., respectively (range between 16 and 90 years for smokers and nonsmokers). The mean age of starting to smoke cigarettes was 21.3 yr. (range of 10 to 60). The most common reasons for current cigarette smoking were Need to avoid withdrawal symptoms, Release of tension, and Pleasurable purposes. Foreign filter-tipped cigarettes were the most common type consumed. The mean number of cigarettes per day was 13.4 (SD = 10.3). Reports for onset of cigarette smoking included Modeling, Release of tension, and Pleasurable purposes. Cigarette smoking was reported by more males than females. The most common reason for onset of cigarette smoking was different from that for current smoking. Frequencies of smokers within age groups were varied.     

Arousal, working memory, and conscious awareness in contingency learning

There are wide individual differences in the ability to detect a stimulus contingency embedded in a complex paradigm. The present study used a cognitive masking paradigm to better understand individual differences related to contingency learning. Participants were assessed on measures of electrodermal arousal and on working memory capacity before engaging in the contingency learning task. Contingency awareness was assessed both by trial-by-trial verbal reports obtained during the task and by a short post-task recognition questionnaire. Participants who became aware had fewer non-specific skin conductance responses and tended to score higher on a digit span assessment. Skin conductance level was not significantly lower in the aware group than in the unaware group. These findings are consistent with studies showing that lower arousal and greater cognitive processing capacity facilitate conscious perception of a greater breadth of information within a scene or a task.     

Hardiness and stress moderation: a test of proposed mechanisms

High and low hardy male and female undergraduates completed an evaluative threat task that was manipulated to influence appraisals of the task in a manner consistent with hardiness theory. High hardy subjects displayed higher frustration tolerance, appraised the task as less threatening, and responded to the task with more positive and less negative affect than did low hardy subjects. Although all subjects displayed increased heart rate (HR) in response to the experimental task, high hardy men displayed lower HR elevations during the task than did low hardy men. Hardiness did not influence HR responses among women. Manipulations of task appraisal revealed a similar pattern where men in the high hardiness appraisal conditions displayed lower levels of physiological arousal during the task than did men in the low hardiness appraisal conditions. Appraisal manipulations had either no effect or the opposite effect among women.     

Physical/verbal aggression: Sex differences in style1

Two studies exploring the use of physical/verbal aggression are reported, the first using women and the second using men as subjects. Both studies allowed subjects to choose between and control the intensity of two response modes: verbal aggression (insults) and physical aggression (electric shock). Aggressive style was investigated over two levels of arousal, sex of experimenter, and sex of provocateur-victim. Results indicated that women aggressed discriminatively in the verbal mode as a function of their arousal, while men were capable of aggressing discriminatively in both the verbal and physical modes. Men who had been disagreed with and punished by a female victim-provocateur in the presence of a male experimenter or by a male victim in the presence of a female experimenter demonstrated high levels of physical aggression compared to the other groups.     

Smoking,personality, and imagery preference in Relation to spontaneous bilateral electrodermal activity

Effects of smoking on spontaneous bilateral skin conductance were studied as a consequence of interactions with set and setting. Bilateral skin conductance was recorded in six men and six women who smoked and an equal number of nonsmokers on two different days. On the first day, spontaneous electrodermal activity was recorded before and after a 10-minute rest period during which half the smokers smoked a cigarette. On the second day, one week later, spontaneous activity was again recorded before and after a 10-minute rest period during which the remaining smokers smoked a cigarette. Nonsmokers did not smoke at any time. Following smoking there was a significant negative correlation between a preference for visual over nonvisual imagery and spontaneous skin conductance responsivity in the left as compared to the right hand. Correlations were significantly different in smokers and nonsmokers. Smokers showed significantly greater preferences for either visual or nonvisual imagery than nonsmokers. Nonresponding nonsmokers were higher on the psychoticism (P) scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) than responding nonsmokers. Smokers scored higher on P than nonsmokers. Interactions between personality, cognitive style, and the experimental situation, set, and setting were discussed in relation to the arousing effects of nicotine.