Modality-specific imagery reduces cravings for food: an application of the elaborated intrusion theory of desire to food craving

Based on converging evidence that visual and olfactory images are key components of food cravings, the authors tested a central prediction of the elaborated intrusion theory of desire, that mutual competition between modality-specific tasks and desire-related imagery can suppress such cravings. In each of Experiments 1 and 2, 90 undergraduate women underwent an imaginal food craving induction protocol and then completed either a visual, auditory, or olfactory imagery task. As predicted, the visual and olfactory imagery tasks were superior to the auditory imagery task in reducing participants' craving for food in general (Experiment 1) and for chocolate in particular (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 replicated these findings in a sample of 96 women using a nonimagery craving induction procedure involving a combination of chocolate deprivation and exposure to chocolate cues. Thus, imagery techniques in the visual or olfactory domain hold promise for treating problematic cravings in disordered eating populations.     

Visuospatial tasks suppress craving for cigarettes

The Elaborated Intrusion (EI) theory of desire posits that visual imagery plays a key role in craving. We report a series of experiments testing this hypothesis in a drug addiction context. Experiment 1 showed that a mental visual imagery task with neutral content reduced cigarette craving in abstaining smokers, but that an equivalent auditory task did not. The effect of visual imagery was replicated in Experiment 2, which also showed comparable effects of non-imagery visual working memory interference. Experiment 3 showed that the benefit of visual over auditory interference was not dependent upon imagery being used to induce craving. Experiment 4 compared a visuomotor task, making shapes from modeling clay, with a verbal task (counting back from 100), and again showed a benefit of the visual over the non-visual task.We conclude that visual imagery supports craving for cigarettes. Competing imagery or visual working memory tasks may help tackle craving in smokers trying to quit.     

On how task-contingent rewards,individual differences in causality orientations,and imagery abilities are related to intrinsic motivation and performance

This study explored how causality orientations, individual differences in imagery, and reward contingency are related to performance and intrinsic motivation. Cognitive evaluation theory, as applied to both causality orientation and reward contingency, was used to make predictions about the effects of internal or external events perceived as being autonomy supportive or controlling. In the light of the fact that task-contingent rewards must be salient to undermine intrinsic motivation and performance, one can suppose that high imagery may increase the controlling aspects of task-contingent rewards. Moreover, research now indicates that vegetative activation correlates with levels of imagined effort, and that high imagery capabilities enhance performance in motor skills. The main purpose of this study was to contribute some arguments for imagery and reward interaction effects on intrinsic motivation and performance. As predicted, autonomy-oriented subjects reported more interest and intrinsic motivation, and exhibited better performance than did control-oriented individuals. Similar differences were observed in favour of high-imagery individuals. Moreover, the effects of imagery were not only subject to an interaction between imagery and causality orientation, but also between imagery and reward contingency. The links between these variables are discussed in the framework of both Carver and Scheier's (1981) motivational control theory, and Deci and Ryan's (1985a) cognitive evaluation theory. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Caffeine cravings impair memory and metacognition

Cravings for food and other substances can impair cognition. We extended previous research by testing the effects of caffeine cravings on cued-recall and recognition memory tasks, and on the accuracy of judgements of learning (JOLs; predicted future recall) and feeling-of-knowing (FOK; predicted future recognition for items that cannot be recalled). Participants (N?=?55) studied word pairs (POND-BOOK) and completed a cued-recall test and a recognition test. Participants made JOLs prior to the cued-recall test and FOK judgements prior to the recognition test. Participants were randomly allocated to a craving or control condition; we manipulated caffeine cravings via a combination of abstinence, cue exposure, and imagery. Cravings impaired memory performance on the cued-recall and recognition tasks. Cravings also impaired resolution (the ability to distinguish items that would be remembered from those that would not) for FOK judgements but not JOLs, and reduced calibration (correspondence between predicted and actual accuracy) for JOLs but not FOK judgements. Additional analysis of the cued-recall data suggested that cravings also reduced participants’ ability to monitor the likely accuracy of answers during the cued-recall test. These findings add to prior research demonstrating that memory strength manipulations have systematically different effects on different types of metacognitive judgements.     

Moderating effect of emotional intelligence on the role of negative affect in the motivation to drink in alcohol-dependent subjects undergoing protracted withdrawal

In order to understand how emotional aspects evolve and are related to craving for alcohol, different emotion-related variables were examined in relationship to craving during a protracted withdrawal. To this end state affectivity (PANAS), emotional intelligence (EI) (TEIQue), and craving (OCDS) were assessed at the onset (T1: day 1 or 2) and at the end (T2: day 14 to 18) of three-week protracted withdrawal among alcohol-dependent inpatients (DSM-IV, N = 41). A significant decrease in craving and negative affectivity (NA) was observed from T1 to T2 while EI scores remained low. At both baseline and follow-up, there was a significant moderation effect of EI on the link between NA and craving for alcohol. Negative mood at the onset of the cure was linked to craving at the end of the withdrawal period but only among patients with low trait EI scores. The merits of using psychotherapeutic approaches were discussed in the treatment of alcohol addiction.     

Food cravings consume limited cognitive resources

Using Tiffany's (1990) cognitive model of drug use and craving as a theoretical basis, the present experiments investigated whether cravings for food expend limited cognitive resources. Cognitive performance was assessed by simple reaction time (Experiment 1) and an established measure of working memory capacity, the operation span task (Experiment 2). In each experiment, female undergraduate students were randomly assigned to a craving or control condition. Participants in the craving condition abstained from eating chocolate for 24 hours prior to testing and performed the cognitive task in the presence of chocolate, a manipulation that successfully elicited chocolate cravings. In both experiments, there was no main effect of craving condition on cognition, but there was a significant interaction between condition and trait chocolate craving. In support of Tiffany's model, our results show that habitual food cravers direct limited cognitive resources to craving-related cues, at the cost of competing cognitive demands. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).     

Bulimics' responses to food cravings: is binge-eating a product of hunger or emotional state?

This study examined the roles of hunger, food craving and mood in the binge-eating episodes of bulimic patients, and identified the critical factors involved in the processes surrounding binge-eating episodes that follow cravings. This was a prospective study of the binge-eating behaviour of 15 women with bulimia nervosa. The participants used food intake diaries and Craving Records to self-monitor their nutritional behaviour, hunger levels and affective state. Cravings leading to a binge were associated with higher tension, lower mood and lower hunger than those cravings not leading to a binge. Levels of tension and hunger were the critical discriminating variables. The findings of the study support empirical evidence and models of emotional blocking in binge-eating behaviour and challenge the current cognitive starve-binge models of bulimia. The role of food cravings in the emotional blocking model is discussed in terms of a classically conditioned motivational state. Implications for treatment are addressed.     

人格、社会支持和非理性信念对男性戒毒劳教人员药物渴求的影响

对273名男性戒毒劳教人员进行测量,探讨了人格、非理性信念、社会支持3因素对戒毒者药物渴求的影响,并对戒毒劳教人员的药物渴求作了初步预测。结果表明:(1)戒毒劳教人员的人格和非理性信念得分均高于普通人,社会支持得分均低于普通人;(2)对吸毒行为持有的效果期待和自贬依毒的非理性信念,精神质的人格特征以及主观社会支持感对戒毒劳教人员的毒品渴求感存在正向预测作用,解释力为61.9%;(3)结构模型分析发现,人格不能直接影响药物渴求,社会支持和非理性信念对人格起到完全的中介作用,人格、社会支持和非理性信念3因素共同解释男性戒毒劳教人员药物渴求85%的变异。     

Aerobic exercise training ameliorates craving and inhibitory control in methamphetamine dependencies: A randomized controlled trial and event-related potential study

ObjectiveMethamphetamine (MA) usage has been recognized as a prominent substance-abuse issue. While exercise training reportedly improves fitness and mental status in the MA-dependent, how exercise training affects addiction and cognitive deficiency has yet to be established. The current study aimed to determine the effects of aerobic exercise training on both MA-associated cravings and inhibitory control among those with MA dependencies.DesignA 12-week randomized controlled trial.MethodSixty-two people with MA dependencies recruited through the Drug Rehabilitation Bureau were assigned to either an aerobic exercise or attentional control group, with 50 participants completing the trial. The aerobic exercise program involved three 30-min sessions of moderate-intensity exercise per week. Along with a pre-test assessment, craving levels were evaluated every three weeks, and data on neutral and MA-related inhibitory control as well as its elicited neuroelectric activation were collected at the end of the intervention.ResultsCompared with the control group, the exercise group experienced attenuated MA craving levels after 6 weeks of the exercise program, and the decreased trend was maintained until the termination of treatment. In the post-test, the exercise group also demonstrated more accuracy in behavioral inhibitory control as well as greater N2 amplitude in the Nogo condition of both the standard and MA-related tasks than those in the control group or pre-test.ConclusionsThe current study provides the first evidence that aerobic exercise training may be efficacious for MA-associated cravings and inhibitory control from behavioral and neuroelectric perspectives among MA-dependent individuals.     

A comparison of acceptance- and control-based strategies for coping with food cravings: an analog study

The present study utilized an analog paradigm to investigate the effectiveness of two strategies for coping with food cravings, which was theorized to be critical to the maintenance of weight loss. Ninety-eight undergraduate students were given transparent boxes of chocolate Hershey's Kisses and instructed to keep the chocolates with them, but not to eat them, for 48 h. Before receiving the Kisses, participants were randomized to receive either (a) no intervention, (b) instruction in control-based coping strategies such as distraction and cognitive restructuring, or (c) instruction in acceptance-based strategies such as experiential acceptance and defusion techniques. Measures included the Power of Food Scale (PFS; a measure of psychological sensitivity to the food environment), self-report ratings of chocolate cravings and surreptitiously recorded chocolate consumption. Results suggested that the effect of the intervention depended on baseline PFS levels, such that acceptance-based strategies were associated with better outcomes (cravings, consumption) among those reporting the highest susceptibility to the presence of food, but greater cravings among those who scored lowest on the PFS. It was observed that craving self-report measures predicted chocolate consumption, and baseline PFS levels predicted both cravings and consumption. Results are discussed in terms of the implications for weight loss maintenance strategies.     

Reflecting on imagery: A clinical perspective and overview of the special issue of Memory on mental imagery and memory in psychopathology

The authors provide an overview of the papers in the special issue of Memory on mental imagery and memory in psychopathology. The papers address emotional, intrusive mental imagery across a range of psychological disorders including post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), agoraphobia, body dysmorphic disorder, mood disorders, and psychosis. They include work on information processing issues including modelling cravings, conditioning, and aversions, as well as imagery qualities such as vividness and emotionality. The overview aims to place the articles in a broader context and draw out some exciting implications of this novel work. It provides a clinical context to the recent growth in this area from a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) perspective. We begin with PTSD, and consider links to imagery in other disorders. The clinical implications stemming from this empirical work and from autobiographical memory theory are discussed. These include consideration of a variety of techniques for eliminating troublesome imagery, and creating healthy, realistic alternatives.     

Effects of Reward and Coercion for Transgression Compliance on Judgments of Responsibility and Recommended Punishment

Previous research ( Greitemeyer & Weiner, 2003 ) has demonstrated that compliance to commit a transgression for an anticipated reward as opposed to an anticipated punishment results in greater inferences of personal responsibility. The present studies extend these findings to a courtroom context in which punishment decisions are made. In Study 1, a nurse who administered a non-approved drug was perceived as more responsible; and more severe punishment decisions were recommended, given compliance for an offered reward relative to a threatened punishment. These findings subsequently were replicated while varying the consequences of the drug administration (Study 2) and employing an antisocial scenario (Study 3). Legal theory, field theory, and prospect theory are discussed as possible explanations for these phenomena.     

Reflecting on imagery: a clinical perspective and overview of the special issue of memory on mental imagery and memory in psychopathology

The authors provide an overview of the papers in the special issue of Memory on mental imagery and memory in psychopathology. The papers address emotional, intrusive mental imagery across a range of psychological disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), agoraphobia, body dysmorphic disorder, mood disorders, and psychosis. They include work on information processing issues including modelling cravings, conditioning, and aversions, as well as imagery qualities such as vividness and emotionality. The overview aims to place the articles in a broader context and draw out some exciting implications of this novel work. It provides a clinical context to the recent growth in this area from a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) perspective. We begin with PTSD, and consider links to imagery in other disorders. The clinical implications stemming from this empirical work and from autobiographical memory theory are discussed. These include consideration of a variety of techniques for eliminating troublesome imagery, and creating healthy, realistic alternatives.     

Enactive imagery in paired-associate learning

Three experiments were conducted to study the effects of enactive imagery (EI) on associative learning. In Experiment I, groups of Ss rated 226 verbs on EI and frequency. In Experiments II and III, Ss learned a 24- and a 16-item list, respectively. The lists consisted of the four possible stimulus-response combinations of high (H) and low (L) EI verb pairs: H-H, H-L, L-H, L-L. In both experiments, EI was found to be a significant factor on the stimulus side, performance being superior when the stimulus was of high EI. In Experiment III, the response EI main effect and the Stimulus by Response EI interaction were also found to be significant. The results indicated that like the imagery evoked by nouns, the EI evoked by verbs facilitates learning.     

背景性渴求与事件性渴求:区分心理渴求对尼古丁成瘾的不同作用路径

大量研究发现心理渴求机制的紊乱是尼古丁成瘾的核心机制之一。线索暴露是探索心理渴求与尼古丁成瘾关系的重要研究范式。但最近研究者提出该范式较难区分事件性渴求与背景性渴求,导致无法清楚定位渴求在尼古丁成瘾中扮演的角色。通过对以往文献的回顾,对不同成瘾概念、作用机制和生理基础进行对比分析,认为事件性渴求与背景性渴求两者在维持成瘾行为上的确存在不同的作用路径。未来研究应改进实验范式,分别探讨两种心理渴求与尼古丁成瘾的内在联系,完善心理渴求与尼古丁成瘾的关系模型,为尼古丁成瘾的治疗和干预等方法提供一定的理论依据。     

Incubation of food craving in rats: A review

Incubation of food craving is an abstinence-dependent increase in responding for reward-paired cues. Incubation of craving was first reported for rats responding for cocaine-paired cues, and later generalized to several drugs of abuse and for food. Incubation of drug and food craving has been reported in clinical studies as well. Incubation of food craving by rats has been reported for standard chow as well as for high fat and sucrose reinforcers. Parametric and other evaluations of the incubation of food craving reveal manipulations that reduce incubation, including environmental enrichment and pharmacological manipulation of dopamine, glutamate, and endogenous opiates. Several brain regions are likely involved in the effect, including mesolimbic terminals and the central nucleus of the amygdala. Further study of the incubation of food craving could facilitate development of treatments for cravings that precede relapse characteristic of drug and food addictions.     

Salivation: an assessment of food craving?

The validity of salivation as a measure of hunger and food craving was examined. Previous studies examining the relationship between salivation, food cues, and self-reports of hunger and food craving reported inconsistent results. The present study, using a modification of the Strongin-Hinsie-Peck (SHP) test to measure salivation, examined these relationships with overweight subjects. Salivation measures were taken on 25 subjects in a weight-control program during three experimental conditions: baseline I, food exposure and baseline II. While food exposure significantly increased the amount of salivation as compared to baseline, salivation did not correlate with self-reports of hunger or food cravings. Significant correlations were found for salivation, age. sex, and body fat. Implications of these results are discussed.     

Motivating emotional intelligence: A reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) perspective

Trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) is generally associated with positive outcomes and can inform clinical and social interventions. We investigated the sub-factors of trait EI: Wellbeing, Self-control, Emotionality, and Sociability, in the context of the reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) of motivation. In Study 1, participants (N?=?247) completed Carver and White’s (J Personal Soc Psychol 67:319–333; Carver, White, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 67:319–333, 1994) BIS/BAS scales and a measure of trait EI. All EI sub-factors were positively associated with BAS Drive and negatively with BIS. Study 2 (N?=?382) employed a new questionnaire based on revised RST (Corr and Cooper, Psychol Assess 28:1427–1440; Corr, Cooper, Psychological Assessment 28:1427–1440, 2016). All trait EI factors were positively associated with BAS Goal-Drive Persistence and Reward Interest, and negatively with the BIS. Self-control showed negative associations with BAS Impulsivity and was the only factor not to correlate with BAS Reward Reactivity. Results suggest that high trait EI individuals are goal driven, sensitive to reward and lower in avoidance motivation and negative emotion. This motivational basis to trait EI further explicates its structure.