Smokers' Affective Responses to COVID-19-Related Health Warnings on Cigarette Packets: The Influence of Delay Discounting.

INTRODUCTION: The addition of graphic health warnings to cigarette packets can facilitate smoking cessation, primarily through their ability to elicit a negative affective response. Smoking has been linked to COVID-19 mortality, thus making it likely to elicit a strong affective response in smokers. COVID-19-related health warnings (C19HW) may therefore enhance graphic health warnings compared to traditional health warnings (THW). Further, because impulsivity influences smoking behaviors, we also examined whether these affective responses were associated with delay discounting. METHODS: In a between-subjects design, 240 smokers rated the valence and arousal elicited by tobacco packaging that contained either a C19HW or THW (both referring to death). Participants also completed questionnaires to quantify delay discounting, and attitudes towards COVID-19 and smoking (eg, health risks, motivation to quit). RESULTS: There were no differences between the two health warning types on either valence or arousal, nor any secondary outcome variables. There was, however, a significant interaction between health warning type and delay discounting on arousal ratings. Specifically, in smokers who exhibit low delay discounting, C19HWs elicited significantly greater subjective arousal rating than did THWs, whereas there was no significant effect of health warning type on arousal in smokers who exhibited high delay discounting. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that in smokers who exhibit low impulsivity (but not high impulsivity) C19HWs may be more arousing than THWs. Future work is required to explore the long-term utility of C19HWs, and to identify the specific mechanism by which delay discounting moderates the efficacy of tobacco health warnings. IMPLICATIONS: The study is the first to explore the impact of COVID-19-related health warnings on cigarette packaging. The results suggest that COVID-19-related warnings elicit a similar level of negative emotional arousal, relative to traditional warnings. However, COVID-19 warnings, specifically, elicit especially strong emotional responses in less impulsive smokers, who report low delay discounting. Therefore, there is preliminary evidence supporting COVID-19 related warnings for tobacco products to aid smoking cessation. Additionally, there is novel evidence that, for some warnings, high impulsiveness may be a factor in reduced warning efficacy, which may explain poorer cessation success in this population.

Can templates-for-rejection suppress real-world affective objects in visual search?

Previous evidence has suggested that feature-based templates-for-rejection can be maintained in working memory to suppress matching features in the environment. Currently, this effect has only been demonstrated using abstract neutral shapes, meaning that it is unclear whether this generalizes to real-world images, including aversive stimuli. In the current investigation, participants searched amongst an array of real-world objects for a target, after being precued with either a distractor template, target template, or a no template baseline. In Experiment 1, where both distractor and target template cues were presented randomly on a trial-by-trial basis, there was moderate evidence of increased capture by aversive distractors after the distractor template cue. In Experiment 2a, however, when distractor templates were the only available cue and more time was given to encode the cue features, there was moderate evidence of effective distractor inhibition for real-world aversive and neutral stimuli. In Experiment 2b, when the task required a slower more effortful comparison of target features to stereotypical object representations, there was weaker evidence of inhibition, though there was still modest evidence suggesting effective inhibition of aversive distractors. A Bayesian meta-analysis revealed that across Experiment 2, aversive distractors showed strong cumulative evidence of effective inhibition, but inconsistent inhibition for neutral distractors. The results are interpreted from a rational search behaviour framework, which suggests that individuals utilize informative cues when they enable the most beneficial strategy and are accessible, and apply these to distractors when they cause sufficient disruption, either to search speed or emotional state.

Lapses in the Person Radar: ADHD Symptoms Predict Difficulty in Interpersonal Distancing.

OBJECTIVE: Across contexts, from social cognition to the COVID-19 pandemic response, individual variation in the regulation of interpersonal distance has typically been viewed as a voluntary choice. Here we examine the frequency of unintentional lapses in interpersonal distancing, and their relationship with childhood ADHD symptoms. METHOD: We administered a novel measure of difficulty with interpersonal distancing across three undergraduate samples (total N = 1,225), in addition to measures of recalled childhood ADHD symptoms, mind wandering, and hyperfocus. RESULTS: Almost all (>97%) participants reported unintentional lapses in maintaining interpersonal distance, with 16% experiencing such lapses frequently. Thirty percent of the variance in these reports was accounted for by attentional traits: Inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive ADHD symptoms jointly predicted difficulties with interpersonal distancing, with the former relationship fully mediated by hyperfocus and spontaneous mind wandering. CONCLUSION: Both inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive ADHD symptoms confer vulnerability to frequent unintentional lapses in interpersonal distancing.

Mental imagery and visual attentional templates: A dissociation.

There is a growing interest in the relationship between mental images and attentional templates as both are considered pictorial representations that involve similar neural mechanisms. Here, we investigated the role of mental imagery in the automatic implementation of attentional templates and their effect on involuntary attention. We developed a novel version of the contingent capture paradigm designed to encourage the generation of a new template on each trial and measure contingent spatial capture by a template-matching visual feature (color). Participants were required to search at four different locations for a specific object indicated at the start of each trial. Immediately prior to the search display, color cues were presented surrounding the potential target locations, one of which matched the target color (e.g., red for strawberry). Across three experiments, our task induced a robust contingent capture effect, reflected by faster responses when the target appeared in the location previously occupied by the target-matching cue. Contrary to our predictions, this effect remained consistent regardless of self-reported individual differences in visual mental imagery (Experiment 1, N = 216) or trial-by-trial variation of voluntary imagery vividness (Experiment 2, N = 121). Moreover, contingent capture was observed even among aphantasic participants, who report no imagery (Experiment 3, N = 91). The magnitude of the effect was not reduced in aphantasics compared to a control sample of non-aphantasics, although the two groups reported substantial differences in their search strategy and exhibited differences in overall speed and accuracy. Our results hence establish a dissociation between the generation and implementation of attentional templates for a visual feature (color) and subjectively experienced imagery.

Specific Pandemic-Related Worries Predict Higher Attention-Related Errors and Negative Affect Independent of Trait Anxiety in UK-Based Students.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many individuals experiencing increased symptoms of anxiety. We predict that this increase may be underpinned by pandemic-related worry (PRW), characterised by repetitive negative thinking about pandemic-specific outcomes; and that this relationship is mediated through reduced attentional capacity required to regulate negative affect. Methods: We developed a novel scale to measure the contents of PRW in an initial sample of 255 participants, and explored its relationship with cognitive functioning and negative affect in a sample of 382 UK-based university students, whilst controlling for recalled pre-pandemic trait anxiety. Results: A five-factor model of PRW was identified, with factors reflecting worry about decline in quality of life (QoL) and probability of infection correlating with attention and memory-related errors. Importantly, attention-related errors partially mediated the positive relationship between PRW and negative affect, even when controlling for pre-pandemic trait anxiety. Conclusion: PRW's relationship with negative affect was partially mediated through attentional function, consistent with models of anxiety and attentional control. In UK-based students PRW may be predominantly focused on the decline in QoL; therefore, interventions targeting worry about the decline in QoL caused by COVID-19 are especially important in this population in the wake of the pandemic. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10608-022-10336-7.

The prioritisation of motivationally salient stimuli in hemi-spatial neglect may be underpinned by goal-relevance: A meta-analytic review.

Damage to regions underpinning attention can result in hemi-spatial neglect, characterised by inattention to stimuli presented in contralesional space. Motivationally salient stimuli (e.g. reward/threat) are, however, resilient to neglect and more likely to be detected compared to neutral stimuli. Prominent theories of attention suggest that the motivational detection advantage in neglect is underpinned by a goal-independent 'emotional attention' system. However, measures of stimulus awareness previously used often present the stimuli as part of the goal-relevant target set. Previous findings may therefore be more consistent with top-down attentional selection, which is preserved in some cases of neglect. Using multilevel and Bayesian meta-analytic approaches to individual case and group data, the evidence for a motivational detection advantage in neglect, and conditions when it emerges, were examined and conceptual claims reviewed. Cumulative evidence suggested that in perceptually simple conditions, when a single stimulus appeared, there was no evidence of a motivational detection advantage (Individual: k = 36; log OR = .02, 95%CI [-.44,.47]; Group: k = 2, dz = .24, 95%CI [-.26, .74]). Conversely, under more perceptually demanding conditions, with multiple goal-relevant stimuli, motivationally salient stimuli were detected more than neutral stimuli in the contralesion side of space (Individual: k = 37, log OR = 1.04, 95%CI [.74, 1.34]; Group: k = 7, dz = .81, 95%CI [.27, 1.35]). Across investigations the detection advantage occurred when the motivationally salient stimulus was a target, and under perceptually demanding conditions when goal-irrelevant motivationally salient stimuli are usually suppressed. The current evidence therefore does not strongly support a goal-independent mechanism, and a top-down account remains plausible. This account can be contextualised within existing models of neglect, whereby perceptual load induces suppression of contralesional space when ipsilesional space is prioritised. Target stimuli may, however, still be detected under reduced perceptual capacity due to their goal-relevance, which may be selectively enhanced by motivational salience.

The relationship between COVID-19-specific health risk beliefs and the motivation to quit smoking: A UK-based survey.

BACKGROUND: In some individuals who smoke, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an increase in the motivation to quit smoking due to the potential higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection. However, this change is not universal, and the motivation to quit appears dependent upon factors such as fear of COVID-19 and perceived risk from COVID-19. In the current investigation both COVID-19 severity and infection probability beliefs were measured to isolate which beliefs correlated with the motivation to quit smoking. METHODS: UK-based smokers (N = 243) completed an online survey between September and October 2020, in which they reported their current motivation to quit smoking, fear of COVID-19, and their beliefs about how severe COVID-19 infection would be and how probable COVID-19 infection was. RESULTS: The only significant predictor of the motivation to quit smoking was the perceived probability of COVID-19 infection, ß = .22, p < .001, 95CI[.10, .34]. This relationship remained when controlling for the general perceived probability and severity of other smoking-related health risks, ß = .20, p = .002, 95CI[.08,.32], suggesting a COVID-19-specific effect. Further, perceived probability of COVID-19 infection mediated the positive impact of fear of COVID-19 on motivation, ß = .07, p = .006, 95CI[.03,.13]. CONCLUSIONS: The result places the perceived probability of COVID-19 infection as a central predictor of the motivation to quit during the pandemic. Based on this evidence, messaging aiming to facilitate smoking cessation during the pandemic should focus on the highly contagious nature of the virus to increase the motivation to quit.

Testing a goal-driven account of involuntary attentional capture by threat.

Attention has long been characterized within prominent models as reflecting a competition between goal-driven and stimulus-driven processes. It remains unclear, however, how involuntary attentional capture by affective stimuli, such as threat-laden content, fits into such models. Although such effects were traditionally thought to reflect stimulus-driven processes, recent research has increasingly implicated a critical role of goal-driven processes. Here we test an alternative goal-driven account of involuntary attentional capture by threat using an experimental manipulation of goal-driven attention. To this end we combined the classic contingent capture and emotion-induced blink paradigms in an RSVP task with both positive or threatening target search goals. Across 6 experiments, positive and threat distractors were presented in peripheral, parafoveal, and central locations. Across all distractor locations we found that involuntary attentional capture by irrelevant threat distractors could be induced via the adoption of a search goal for a threatening category; adopting a goal for a positive category conversely led to capture only by positive stimuli. Our findings provide direct experimental evidence for a causal role of voluntary goals in involuntary capture by irrelevant threat stimuli, and hence demonstrate the plausibility of a top-down account of this phenomenon. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to current cognitive models of attention and clinical disorders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Not looking for any trouble? Purely affective attentional settings do not induce goal-driven attentional capture.

It is well established that directing goal-driven attention to a particular stimulus property (e.g., red), or a conceptual category (e.g., toys) can induce powerful involuntary capture by goal-matching stimuli. Here, we tested whether broad affective search goals (e.g., for anything threat-related) could similarly induce a generalized capture to an entire matching affective category. Across four experiments, participants were instructed to search for threat-related images in a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) stream, while ignoring threat-related distractors presented in task-irrelevant locations. Across these experiments we found no evidence of goal-driven attentional capture by threat distractors when participants adopted a general 'threat detection' goal encompassing multiple subcategories of threat (Experiments 1a, 1b). This was true even when there was partial overlap between the threat distractors and the search goal (i.e., subset of the targets matched the distractor; Experiment 2). However, when participants adopted a more specific goal for a single subcategory of threat (e.g., fearful faces), robust goal-driven capture occurred by distractors matching this subcategory (Experiment 3). These findings suggest that while affective criteria can be used in the guidance of attention, attentional settings based on affective properties alone may not induce goal-driven attentional capture. We discuss implications for recent goal-driven accounts of affective attentional biases.

Goal-driven attentional capture by appetitive and aversive smoking-related cues in nicotine-dependent smokers.

BACKGROUND: Conventionally, involuntary attentional capture by tobacco cues in smokers are seen as an implicit bias, operating independently of current search goals. Prominent attention research, however, has suggested that search goals can induce an involuntary attentional capture. In the current investigation, we tested whether appetitive and aversive smoking images affected attention through such a mechanism and whether there were group differences based on nicotine dependence. METHODS: We instructed non-smokers (NS), occasional smokers (OS; low dependence), and nicotine-dependent smokers (NDS; moderate-high dependence), to hold search goals for either an aversive or appetitive smoking category, or a category of non-smoking images. These images were presented in a stream of briefly appearing filler images, while task-irrelevant distractors were presented outside the stream. Distractors could be aversive or appetitive smoking images or a category of non-smoking images. Therefore, in some conditions, the distractors matched the current category being searched for, while in others it was incongruent. RESULTS: Task-irrelevant smoking distractors reduced target detection, compared to the non-smoking distractors, only when they were congruent with the specific category being searched for. There was no effect of either aversive or appetitive smoking distractors on performance when participants were searching for the non-smoking targets. Distractor interference did not differ between smokers and non-smokers. CONCLUSIONS: The results support a goal-driven mechanism underpinning involuntary attentional capture by smoking cues. These findings can be used to inform models of addiction and attention, and the display of health warnings.

Attentional capture by alcohol-related stimuli may be activated involuntarily by top-down search goals.

Previous research has found that the attention of social drinkers is preferentially oriented towards alcohol-related stimuli (attentional capture). This is argued to play a role in escalating craving for alcohol that can result in hazardous drinking. According to incentive theories of drug addiction, the stimuli associated with the drug reward acquire learned incentive salience and grab attention. However, it is not clear whether the mechanism by which this bias is created is a voluntary or an automatic one, although some evidence suggests a stimulus-driven mechanism. Here, we test for the first time whether this attentional capture could reflect an involuntary consequence of a goal-driven mechanism. Across three experiments, participants were given search goals to detect either an alcoholic or a non-alcoholic object (target) in a stream of briefly presented objects unrelated to the target. Prior to the target, a task-irrelevant parafoveal distractor appeared. This could either be congruent or incongruent with the current search goal. Applying a meta-analysis, we combined the results across the three experiments and found consistent evidence of goal-driven attentional capture, whereby alcohol distractors impeded target detection when the search goal was for alcohol. By contrast, alcohol distractors did not interfere with target detection, whilst participants were searching for a non-alcoholic category. A separate experiment revealed that the goal-driven capture effect was not found when participants held alcohol features active in memory but did not intentionally search for them. These findings suggest a strong goal-driven account of attentional capture by alcohol cues in social drinkers.