File Domonkos, Petro Bela, Kojouharova Petia, Kővári Lili, Gaál Zsófia Anna, Demetrovics Zsolt, Czigler István
Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
Front Psychol. 2024 May 14;15:1356434. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1356434. eCollection 2024.
The Incentive Sensitization Theory (IST) offers a comprehensive framework that explains how attentional mechanisms contribute to the maintenance and relapse of addictive behavior. However, the extent to which the underlying neuropsychological mechanisms are consciously accessible for report remains unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the association between self-reported wanting and liking among smokers and its relationship with detecting changes in smoking-related stimuli.
An online experiment was designed deploying a flicker paradigm with neutral and smoking-related changes, completed by 422 individuals (mean age = 29.1 years, 214 non-smokers, 123 current smokers, and 85 former smokers). Additionally, the Fagerström Test for Cigarette Dependence and the Imaginative Wanting and Liking Questionnaire were administered.
Consistent with prior research findings, smokers exhibited faster detection of smoking-related changes compared to non-smokers, while former smokers displayed an intermediate level of attentional bias, falling between the levels observed in smokers and non-smokers. Further, higher levels of nicotine dependence were associated with a greater discrepancy between self-reported wanting and liking, which was associated with better change detection performance for high salience smoking-related stimuli in smokers.
These findings support the predictions of IST and support the notion that attentional bias might develops early in the course of nicotine addiction. Furthermore, the results indicate that the underlying cognitive mechanisms might be partially within conscious awareness, which opens up potential avenues for research design, treatment, and interventions.
动机敏感化理论（IST）提供了一个全面的框架，用以解释注意机制如何促成成瘾行为的维持和复发。然而，潜在的神经心理学机制在多大程度上能够被有意识地报告出来仍不明确。因此，本研究的目的是调查吸烟者自我报告的渴望与喜好之间的关联，以及其与检测吸烟相关刺激变化的关系。
设计了一项在线实验，采用带有中性和吸烟相关变化的闪烁范式，422人（平均年龄 = 29.1岁，214名非吸烟者，123名当前吸烟者，85名既往吸烟者）完成了该实验。此外，还进行了香烟依赖的法格斯特伦测试以及想象性渴望与喜好问卷。
与先前的研究结果一致，吸烟者比非吸烟者对吸烟相关变化的检测速度更快，而既往吸烟者表现出中等程度的注意偏向，介于吸烟者和非吸烟者之间。此外，更高水平的尼古丁依赖与自我报告的渴望与喜好之间的更大差异相关，这与吸烟者对高显著性吸烟相关刺激更好的变化检测表现相关。
这些发现支持了IST的预测，并支持注意偏向可能在尼古丁成瘾过程早期就会出现的观点。此外，结果表明潜在的认知机制可能部分处于意识范围内，这为研究设计、治疗和干预开辟了潜在途径。
