Handbook of implicit cognition and addiction. by Wiers, R. W. & Stacy, A. W.

Abstract

R. W. Wiers, A. W. Stacy. (2006). Handbook of Implicit Cognition and Addiction . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 550 pages, ISBN 1-4129-0974-0, $125.00 In 1917, Sigmund Freud described three insults to humanity. According to Freud, scientific findings dealt a blow to human egocentrism by discovering that (1) the earth is not the centre of the universe, (2) the human race is not the coronation of evolution but only part of it, and (3) cognition and consciousness is only a small part of information processed in the brain. Although the third point has long been accepted, social scientists appear to favour phenomena which can be directly observed or at least introspectively reflected. It seems evident or perhaps more convenient to investigate the visible rather than the dark side of the moon. The study of explicit cognition—usually assessed by asking people to introspect about the causes of their drinking behaviour—has a long tradition in alcohol research. As early as the first half of the 20th century, motivational aspects of alcohol use were subject to scientific investigations. By the end of the 1960s, for example, research on subjective drinking reasons was incorporated into quantitative studies of the general population and college students in the United States. However, drinking reasons or motives, alcohol expectancies, and other cognitions which are consciously present or accessible by introspection cover only one aspect of alcohol-related cognitions. To put it simply, they shed light on the visible side of the moon. However, cognitive processes that lead to a certain drinking behaviour can also take place implicitly, automatically, and unconsciously. Such implicit cognitions which are not directly accessible by introspection represent the dark side of the moon. Implicit cognitions might help to explain …