Alcohol-related attentional bias in problem drinkers with the flicker change blindness paradigm

Jones, B., Bruce, G., Livingstone, S. and Reed, E. (2006) Alcohol-related attentional bias in problem drinkers with the flicker change blindness paradigm. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 20, pp. 171-177. (doi: 10.1037/0893-164X.20.2.171)

Abstract

The authors used a flicker paradigm for inducing change blindness as a more direct method of measuring attentional bias in problem drinkers in treatment than the previously used, modified Stroop, Posner, and dual-task paradigms. First, in an artificially constructed visual scene comprising digitized photographs of real alcohol-related and neutral objects, problem drinkers detected a change made to an alcohol-related object more quickly than to a neutral object. Age- and gender-matched social drinkers showed no such difference. Second, problem drinkers given the alcohol-related change to detect showed a negative correlation between the speed with which the change was detected and the problem severity as measured by the number of times previously treated. Coupled with other data from heavy and light social drinkers, the data support a graded continuity of attentional bias underpinning the length of the consumption continuum.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Jones, Professor Barry
• Authors: Jones, B., Bruce, G., Livingstone, S., and Reed, E.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Psychology
• Journal Name: Psychology of Addictive Behaviors
• Publisher: American Psychological Association
• ISSN: 0893-164X
• ISSN (Online): 1939-1501