Behavioral studies have found that cigarette smokers temporally discount rewards more than non-smokers; smokers are more likely to prefer immediate over delayed rewards. Given the importance of nicotine withdrawal in the maintenance of cigarette smoking, the effect of acute nicotine withdrawal on temporal discounting is of interest. Studies examining temporal discounting of rewards during nicotine withdrawal are limited, while studies examining temporal discounting of punishments during withdrawal are completely absent. The same is true for studies of probability discounting, a construct thought to be related, if not similar, to temporal discounting. The first specific aim of this small, self-contained research project is to compare and contrast the profile of results in the temporal discounting of negative outcomes in smokers during nicotine satiation and acute withdrawal. The second specific aim is to compare and contrast the profile of results in the probability discounting of positive and negative outcomes in smokers during nicotine satiation and acute withdrawal. The third specific aim is to validate temporal and probability discounting procedures for hypothetical rewards with real rewards conditions. The proposed experiment will fulfill these aims with temporal- and probability-discounting procedures with smokers and non-smokers for both gains and losses. Smokers will undergo the discounting procedures under both nicotine satiation and acute withdrawal (24-hour cigarette abstinence). Half of the participants in each group will be female, allowing for gender analyses of withdrawal effects on discounting, providing additional insight into gender differences in nicotine addiction, abstinence, and relapse. The long-term objective of this line of research is to further knowledge about the variables that influence impulsive behavior such as cigarette smoking, and to facilitate the development of comprehensive treatment programs. Though the rate of smoking has decreased in the United States in recent years, cigarette smoking continues to be the most preventable cause of mortality and morbidity. Given the public health implications of cigarette smoking, it is important to expand current knowledge about choice of negative outcomes by cigarette smokers in satiation and withdrawal. This research may provide new insights into the variables that affect impulsive decision-making in general and drug dependence in particular, leading to new modules of treatment that supplement effective treatments for drug dependence in use today. ? ? ?
| Matusiewicz, Alexis K; Carter, Anne E; Landes, Reid D et al. (2013) Statistical equivalence and test-retest reliability of delay and probability discounting using real and hypothetical rewards. Behav Processes 100:116-22 |
| Yi, Richard; Landes, Reid D (2012) Temporal and probability discounting by cigarette smokers following acute smoking abstinence. Nicotine Tob Res 14:547-58 |
