Attentional bias toward alcohol-related stimuli in heavy drinkers: evidence from dynamic eye movement recording.
Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse
; 43(3): 332-340, 2017 05.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27712112
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
It has been proposed that attentional biases toward alcohol stimuli are contributing factors maintaining problematic drinking behavior.OBJECTIVE:
The main goal of the present set of studies was to provide an examination of dynamic attentional mechanisms associated with alcohol consumption derived from eye movement monitoring.METHOD:
Undergraduate students were recruited for two studies. In Experiment 1, 80 students were exposed to complex scenes (containing alcohol-related cues or not) viewed at a self-determined presentation rate. In Experiment 2, 80 students were exposed to the stimuli for a fixed presentation time and asked to memorize the photographs. In both studies, participants completed the Khavari Alcohol Test (KAT) to measure their drinking behaviors.RESULTS:
Experiment 1 revealed that alcohol consumption was unrelated to eye movement measures on alcohol-related objects within pictures. However, results of Experiment 2 indicated that saccades into and out of the alcohol-related zones were more frequent as alcohol consumption increased. The time spent and the speed of the first fixation in the alcohol-related zone did not explain the variance in alcohol consumption.CONCLUSION:
Attentional biases associated with alcohol consumption might be better understood in terms of dynamic attention mechanisms. More precisely, heavy drinker's attention seems to be constantly drawn back to alcohol-related objects once they are first fixated and when attention is enforced through other cognitive demands. From a clinical viewpoint, dynamic attentional biases might contribute to the development or maintenance of alcohol-related problems and this observation might help guide attention-based interventions.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Consumo de Bebidas Alcoólicas
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Alcoolismo
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Movimentos Oculares
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Viés de Atenção
Limite:
Adolescent
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Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article