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Use of eye movement to measure smokers' attentional bias to smoking-related cues.

Kwak SM, Na DL, Kim G, Kim GS, Lee JH

Department of Psychology, Chung-Ang University, 221 Heukseok-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 156-756, Korea.

Smokers have attentional biases towards smoking-related cues, and such cues elicit cravings. Smokers also feel anxious during nicotine deprivation, and anxiety may exacerbate attentional biases toward aversive cues. We examined the attentional bias of smokers (n = 14) and a control group of nonsmokers (n = 16) towards smoking-related and aversive cues. Using an eye-tracking device, we measured eye movement when smoking-related, aversive, and control cues were presented simultaneously. We analyzed the number of initial fixations, and gaze duration, to identify the attentional bias. Smokers initially fixed their gaze on aversive cues, and maintained their gaze longer on smoking-related cues, in comparison to the control group. These results suggest that smokers show biased attentional orientation to smoking-related and aversive cues.

Published 3 May 2007 in Cyberpsychol Behav, 10(2): 299-304.
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