The Effects of Varying Cigarette Deprivation Duration on Cognitive and Performance Tasks

Abstract

The effects of varying times of cigarette deprivation on cognitive and performance tasks were examined. This study employed a between-subjects design in which five groups of smokers (9-10 subjects in each group) were compared on a vigilance task and cognitive measures as a function of length of deprivation (0, 2, 4, 8, or 24 hours). Each subject was tested during baseline ad-lib smoking and at one of the deprivation durations. Difference scores were compared between the 0-hour group and the 2-, 4-, 8-, and 24-hour groups. The results showed that there were no significant withdrawal effects on the measures at 2, 4, and 8 hours after cigarette deprivation with the exception of poorer performance on the Trail Making Test (B) at 4 hours, However, there were significant withdrawal effects at 24-hours deprivation. These included increased mean reaction time, increased variability in reaction time, and increased errors of commission on the vigilance task. There were near significant changes at 24-hours deprivation on the Trail Making Test (B) and Symbol Digits Modalities.