Schematic processing of smoking information by smokers and never-smokers

Abstract

The present study was designed to assess whether smokers and never-smokers differ in the manner in which they process smoking-related information. Twenty-four smokers and 29 never-smokers participated in a schema reaction time task, in which judgments were made as to the applicability of a series of attributes to smoking (as well as two sets of control stimuli). One-half the subjects rated these attributes with respect to smoking in general, while the rest of the subjects did so in a condition designed to enhance self-referent processing. For all groups, an incidental recall test followed the presentation of smoking stimuli. Results indicated that while groups did not differ in their responses to control stimuli, there were reliable differences between smokers' and never-smokers' responses to smoking attributes on all dependent measures (i.e., latency, confidence ratings, and number of endorsements). Smokers responded in a manner indicative of schematic processing to positively valenced attributes, while never-smokers demonstrated facilitated processing of negatively valenced attributes. However, neversmokers demonstrated expected within-group differences, while smokers did not. In addition, no effect for the self-referencing manipulation was evident. These findings are discussed with regard to the nature of information processing in smokers.