Vegetative effects of Stroop-test solving and cigarette smoking.

The vegetative effects of cigarette smoking were investigated in 28 male smokers required to answer STROOP stimuli and in 16 smokers tested under yoked conditions. The smoking effects were considerably more pronounced in the yoked group than in the task solving groups. Psychophysiological reactivity to solving the STROOP task only tented to be influenced by smoking. A possible role for the reinforcing effects of smoking in this type of experiment can therefore be seen more in the vegetative activation preparatory to coping with the task than in the modulation of the task-induced vegetative responses.