THE INFLUENCE OF SMOKING ON TOLERANCE TO FRUSTRATION AND ON ATTENTION

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THE INFLUENCE OF SMOKING ON TOLERANCE TO FRUSTRATION AND ON ATTENTION MIHAI VALENTIN CIOLACU University of Bucharest, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Psychology Abstract

1 THE INFLUENCE OF SMOKING ON TOLERANCE TO FRUSTRATION AND ON ATTENTION MIHAI VALENTIN CIOLACU University of Bucharest, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Psychology Abstract This research aims to verify if any statistically significant difference exists between and non in terms of tolerance to frustration and attention. Besides these issues, the differences between who just smoked a cigarette and those who have not lit a cigarette in 4 hours are also addressed. To experimentally test these hypotheses we used two samples from the computerized test battery Vienna Test System - Schuchfried. The first sample used was Vigilance (Vigil) and the second one was Visual Persuit Test (LVT). Participants were grouped as follows: non, who smoked a cigarette before taking the test and who have not lit a cigarette in at least 4 hours. For this test we chose subjects that were for at least 4 years and smoke at least 12 cigarettes per day. Each group consisted of 20 participants. Research hypotheses were confirmed and the non- group achieved the best performance on the tests. On the second place was the group consisting of those who smoked a cigarette shortly before the test started. On the third place came the group consisting of those who have not smoked a cigarette for at least 4 hours before testing. The differences between groups were statistically significant which highlights the fact that have a lower tolerance to frustration and a low vigilance especially when they had not smoked a cigarette in several hours. Keywords: smoking, cigarette, alertness, attention, frustration tolerance ciolacu.mihai88@yahoo.com; mihai.ciolacu@fpse.unibuc.ro 41

2 1. INTRODUCTION Cigarette consumption is a widespread habit that creates serious health problems. The reason people do not give up the habit and is the pleasure and addiction that cigarettes create. There are people who say they began smoking again even after they have turned to a specialist. Among those who tried to quit smoking a rate of 75% started smoking again in the next 6 months (Ferguson, Bauld, Chesterman 2005). Those who fail to quit cigarette consumption would argue that they can not escape the desire to light a cigarette no matter how much they try or they fear of losing their social contacts (Brown, Lejuez, Kahler 2005). Globally the number of exceeds the threshold of 1.5 billion and a total of over 6 million deaths due to smoking are recorded annually (Wipfli, Samet 2009). Smoking is a biological addiction. But there are other reasons that tie us to cigarettes beside the physical addiction to nicotine. When people try to quit they must overcome a psychological habit (Gross 2002). Albert s Bandura social learning theory (1977) describes how we learn from other s example. We are influenced by our parents and other people such as actors, celebrities, singers (Hanewinkel 2009). There is an immediate pleasant effect that our first cigarette has on the brain, so we continue to smoke to find this feeling again. We learn to associate smoking with other activities, such as drinking coffee, going out to the club. Later, we become conditioned, so the activities associated with smoking triggers our need for a cigarette. These psychological associations remain imprinted in a smoker s memory and it comes back when try to quit. Finally we learn to continue smoking because if we stop we experience withdrawal symptoms such as irritability and lack of concentration (Tucker, Ellickson, Klein 2002) Young people s reasons to start smoking are mostly psychological. People are seduced to try tobacco by after they see the "glamor" effect that movies give to smoking. Nicotine addiction makes smoking hard to give up once started but this addiction can be overcome and controlled at two weeks after psychological reasons of smoking are eliminated (Pechmann, Shih 1999). To give up the habit of smoking we must understand and eliminate the psychological base of the problem. Most of the reasons why people start smoking are related to how they perceive themselves in the company of others. Generally they start smoking in an attempt to change their personal image, to appear more attractive, more manly, more feminine, or smarter. Sometimes, smoking is used to calm the nerves, to deal with stress (Gilpin, White, Pierce 2005). Any smoker likes to think of smoking as to a harmless vice, an action that gives an aura of self-confidence and makes him look like a person that likes to taste the pleasures of life. Smoking is usually seen as a harmless weakness, treated with leniency. How many of those who smoke k that smoking is really a disease? Very few people realize that this is a disturbing thing (Worth, Duke, Green, 42

3 Sargent 2007). What the smoker doesn t k, is that the need to light a cigarette is actually the manifestation of disease: nicotine addiction. According to the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization, nicotine meets the criteria of a substance that causes addiction, that is categorized as a drug and nicotine addiction that occurs as a result of tobacco use is a mental and behavioral disorder (Glassman et al 1993) 2. OBJECTIVE AND HYPOTHESES 2.1. OBJECTIVE Through this research I aimed to experimentally test the influence of smoking on tolerance to frustration and to attention. Through this research I aimed to show how much performance is affected in who were asked not to light a cigarette for at least four hours before testing HYPOTHESES There is a statistically significant difference between the results obtained by the group and the non- one. There is a statistically significant difference between the results of the who smoked a cigarette before starting the test than those who had not smoked a cigarette for at least four hours. 3. METHOD 3.1. PARTICIPANTS The participants are students of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences - University of Bucharest, aged between 22 and 34 years, 39 females and 21 males. The subjects had to smoke for at least 4 years, at least 12 cigarettes per day INSTRUMENTS To test the research hypotheses we used two of the samples included in the Vienna Test System - Schuchfried testing battery: the Vigilance sample (VIGIL) and the Visual Persuit sample (LVT). The vigilance sample was used to test the participant's ability to be vigilant for a long time in a monotone stimuli situation. A 43

4 white dot move in a circle with one unit and when it did a double jump the subject had the task to press a button. A short form of the test was chosen, with a duration of 25 minutes. The second sample used, Visual Persuit Test measures an individual's ability to orient visually and to gain an overview on the situation. This test is used to measure the visual orientation aspect involved in being attentive to simple visual elements into a relatively complex space. A series of lines are presented to the subject and its task is to find the end of a given line as quickly as it can. The subject can work at its own pace. In this research we applied the 19 items form of the test PROCEDURE To highlight the fact that people who have just smoked a cigarette feel more relaxed and have increased concentration power we divided the smoking participants into two groups. The first group participants applied the tests after they just finished smoking a cigarette and the other group participants were asked to refrain from smoking for at least 4 hours before the test. Besides these two groups of there was a group of non. Each group consisted of 20 participants including 13 females and 7 males. Subjects were invited to the testing room and were asked to carefully follow the instruction displayed by the two computerized tests EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The dependent variable is represented by the score obtained in the two tests and the independent variable is given by the participant s status: it smoked a cigarette before applying the tests, it smoked a cigarette 4 hours before the test, or it was a non-smoker. In this research participated three groups of subjects who applied two test. In the end the results of the groups were compared. 4. RESULTS Pentru prelucrarea datelor a fost folosit programul de prelucrare statistica SPSS 18 in cadrul caruia a fost selectata functia Analysis of Variance; ONE-WAY ANOVA si Post Hoc Test Bonferroni. 44

5 Table 1. Oneway ANOVA Sum of Squares dif Mean Square F Sig. ScoreLVT Between Groups Within Groups Total ScoreVIGIL Between Groups Within Groups Total CorrectLVT Between Groups Within Groups Total CorrectVIGIL Between Groups Within Groups Total Research hypotheses were confirmed as statistical significance index has values lower than There are statistically significant differences between and non- and especially among those who have just smoked a cigarette and those who did not smoke for 4 hours. Those who did not smoke for 4 hours were just wanting to go through the test faster so they can light a cigarette. They were less able to concentrate and perform the required tasks successfully. Table 2. Post Hoc Test Multiple Comparision Dependent Variable ScoreLVT ScoreVIGIL (I) grupul de cecetare (J) grupul de cecetare Sig. 95% Confidence Mean Interval Difference (I-J) Std. Error Lower Bound Upper Bound * * * * *

6 CorrectLVT CorrectVIGIL *The mean difference is significant at the.05 level * * * 2, CONCLUSIONS It would be interesting to study the effect of smoking cessation for longer than 4 hours. It should also be interesting to study the results of other age groups and of participants who smoke more than 12 cigarettes per day. We recommend test replication on a larger number of subjects. 6. REFERENCES Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press Brown, R. A., Lejuez, C. W., Kahler, C. W., & Strong, D. R. (2002). Distress tolerance and duration of past smoking cessation attempts. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112, 448e456. Ferguson, J., Bauld, L., Chesterman, J., & Judge, K. (2005). The English smoking treatment services: one-year outcomes. Addiction, 100, 59e69. Gilpin, E.A., White, V.M., Pierce, J.P. (2005). What fraction of young adults are at risk for future smoking, and who are they? Nicotine Tob. Res. 7, Glassman, A. H., Covey, L. S., Dalack, G.W., Stetner, F., Rivelli, S. K., Fleiss, J., et al. (1993). Smoking cessation, clonidine, and vulnerability to nicotine among dependent. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 54(6),

7 Gross, J. J. (2002). Emotion regulation: affective, cognitive, and social consequences. Psychophysiology, 39, 281e291. Hanewinkel, R. (2009). Cigarette smoking and perception of a movie character in a film trailer. Arch. Pediatr. Adolesc. Med. 163, Pechmann, C., Shih, C.F. (1999). Smoking scenes in movies and antismoking advertisements before movies: effects on youth. J. Mark. 63, Tucker, J.S., Ellickson, P.L., Klein, D.J. (2002). Smoking cessation during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. Nicotine Tob. Res. 4, Wipfli, H., Samet, JM. (2009). Global economic and health benefits of tobacco control: part 1. Clin Pharmacol Ther; Jun 17. Worth, K.A., Duke, J., Green, M., Sargent, J.D. (2007). Character smoking in top box office movies. American Legacy Foundation First Look Report 18. Washington, DC. REZUMAT Aceasta cercetare isi propune sa verifice daca esista o diferenta semnificativa statistic intre fumatori si nefumatori in privinta tolerantei la frustrare si a atentiei. Pe langa aceste aspecte sunt vizate si diferentele dintre fumatorii care tocmai au fumat o tigara si cei care nu au aprins o tigara de 4 ore. Pentru a testa experimental aceste ipoteze au fost folosite doua probe computerizate din bateria de testare Vienna Test System Schuchfried. Prima proba folosita a fost Vigilance (VIGIL) iar a doua Visual Persuit Test (LVT). Paricipantii au fost inpartiti in acest fel: nefumatori, fumatori care au fumat o tigara inainte de a participa la testare si fumatori care nu au aprins o tigara de cel putin 4 ore. Au fost selectati subiecti care sa fumeze de cel putin 4 ani si minim 12 tigari pe zi. Fiecare grup a fost format din 20 de participanti. Ipotezele cercetarii au fost confirmate iar grupul nefumatorilo a obtinut cea mai buna performata la testele aplicate. Pe locul doi se afla grupul celor care au fumat o tigare cu putin timp inainte de inceperea tesrarii. Iar pe locul trei se afla grupul celor care nu au fumat o tigara cu cel putin 4 ore inaintea testarii. Dferentele intre grupuri au fost semnificative statistic fapt ce pune in evidenta faptul ca fumatorii au o toleranta mai scazuta la frustrare si o vigilenta mai scazuta mai ales in situatia in care nu au fumat o tigara de cateva ore. Cuvinte cheie: fumat, tigara, vigilenta, atentie, frustrare, toleranta 47

Chapter 14. Lessons. Bellringer

Chapter 14. Lessons. Bellringer Tobacco Tobacco Lessons Lesson 1 Tobacco Products: An Overview Lesson 2 Tobacco s Effects Lesson 3 Tobacco, Disease, and Death Lesson 4 Tobacco and Addiction Lesson 5 Quitting Lesson 6 Why People Use Tobacco