Skip to main content
Log in

Attentional biases for alcohol cues in heavy and light social drinkers: the roles of initial orienting and maintained attention

  • Original Investigation
  • Published:
Psychopharmacology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Rationale

There has been considerable theoretical interest in attentional biases for drug-related cues. However, there is little research on the component processes of such attentional biases.

Objectives

We examined initial orienting to, and the maintenance of attention on, alcohol-related cues in heavy and light social drinkers.

Methods

The present study used a visual probe task to investigate biases in visual orienting to alcohol-related cues. We varied the presentation duration of alcohol-related pictures (200, 500 or 2000 ms) to investigate whether attentional biases operated in initial orienting or the maintenance of attention.

Results

In comparison with light social drinkers, heavy social drinkers had an attentional bias for alcohol pictures which were presented at the longer exposure durations (500 and 2000 ms), but not at the shorter duration of 200 ms. Subjective alcohol craving was correlated with the attentional bias index for alcohol pictures presented for 2000 ms.

Conclusions

These results suggest that biases in visual orienting to alcohol-related cues in heavy social drinkers operate mainly in the processes involved in the maintenance of attention.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allport A (1989) Visual attention. In: Posner MI (ed) Foundations of cognitive science. MIT, Cambridge, Mass., pp 631–682

  • Bohn MJ, Krahn DD, Staehler BA (1995) Development and initial validation of a measure of drinking urges in abstinent alcoholics. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 19:600–606

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley BP, Mogg K, Millar NH (2000) Covert and overt orienting of attention to emotional faces in anxiety. Cognit Emotion 14:789–808

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley BP, Mogg K, Wright T, Field M (2003) Attentional bias in drug dependence: vigilance for cigarette-related cues in smokers. Psychol Addict Behav 17:66–72

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley BP, Field M, Mogg K, De Houwer J (2004) Attentional and evaluative biases for smoking cues in nicotine dependence: component processes of biases in visual orienting. Behav Pharmacol 15:29–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox WM, Blount JP, Rozak AM (2000) Alcohol abusers and nonabusers distraction by alcohol and concern-related stimuli. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 26:489–495

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dalgleish T (1995) Performance on the emotional Stroop task in groups of anxious, expert and control subjects. A comparison of computer and card presentation formats. Cognit Emotion 9:341–362

    Google Scholar 

  • Duka T, Jackson A, Smith DC, Stephen DN (1999) Relationship of components of an alcohol interoceptive stimulus to induction of desire for alcohol in social drinkers. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 64:301–309

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrman RN, Robbins SJ, Bromwell MA, Lankford ME, Monterosso JR, O’Brien CP (2002) Comparing attentional bias to smoking cues in current smokers, former smokers, and non-smokers using a dot-probe task. Drug Alcohol Depend 67:185–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Field M, Mogg K, Bradley BP (2004) Eye movements to smoking-related cues: effects of nicotine deprivation. Psychopharmacology (in press)

  • Fox E, Russo R, Bowles R, Dutton K (2001) Do threatening stimuli draw or hold visual attention in subclinical anxiety? J Exp Psychol Gen 130:681–700

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Franken IHA (2003) Drug craving and addiction: integrating psychological and neuropsychopharmacological approaches. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 27:563–579

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnsen BH, Laberg JC, Cox WM, Vaksdal A, Hugdahl K (1994) Alcoholic subjects’ attentional bias in the processing of alcohol-related words. Psychol Addict Behav 8:111–115

    Google Scholar 

  • LaBerge D (1995) Attentional processing. Harvard, Cambridge, Mass.

  • Love A, James D, Willner P (1998) A comparison of two alcohol craving questionnaires. Addiction 93:1091–1102

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lubman DI, Peters LA, Mogg K, Bradley BP, Deakin JFW (2000) Attentional bias for drug cues in opiate dependence. Psychol Med 30:169–175

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mehrabian A, Russell JA (1978) A questionnaire measure of habitual alcohol use. Psychol Rep 43:803–806

    Google Scholar 

  • Mogg K, Bradley BP (1998) A cognitive-motivational analysis of anxiety. Behav Res Ther 36:809–848

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mogg K, Bradley BP (2002) Selective processing of smoking-related cues in smokers: manipulation of deprivation level and comparison of three measures of processing bias. J Psychopharmacol 16:385–392

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mogg K, Bradley BP, Field M, De Houwer J (2003) Eye movements to smoking-related pictures in smokers: relationship between attentional biases and implicit and explicit measures of stimulus valence. Addiction 98:825–836

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mucha RF, Geier A, Pauli P (1999) Modulation of craving by cues having differential overlap with pharmacological effect: evidence for cue approach in smokers and social drinkers. Psychopharmacology 147:306–313

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mucha RF, Geier A, Stuhlinger M, Mundle G (2000) Appetitive effects of drug cues modelled by pictures of the intake ritual: generality of cue-modulated startle examined with inpatient alcoholics. Psychopharmacology 151:428–432

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson TE, Berridge KC (1993) The neural basis of drug craving: an incentive-sensitization theory of addiction. Brain Res Rev 18:247–291

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson TE, Berridge KC (2003) Addiction. Annu Rev Psychol 54:25–53

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma D, Albery IP, Cook C (2001) Selective attentional bias to alcohol related stimuli in problem drinkers and non-problem drinkers. Addiction 96:285–295

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stetter F, Ackermann K, Bizer A, Straube ER, Mann K (1995) Effects of disease-related cues in alcoholics: results of a controlled “alcohol Stroop” study. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 19:593–599

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stormark KM, Field NP, Hugdahl K, Horowitz M (1997) Selective processing of visual alcohol cues in abstinent alcoholics: an approach-avoidance conflict. Addict Behav 22:509–519

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stormark KM, Laberg JC, Nordby H, Hugdahl K (2000) Alcoholics’ selective attention to alcohol stimuli: automated processing? J Stud Alcohol 61:18–23

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Townshend JM, Duka T (2001) Attentional bias associated with alcohol cues: differences between heavy and occasional social drinkers. Psychopharmacology 157:67–74

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Waters AJ, Shiffman S, Bradley BP, Mogg K (2003) Attentional shifts to smoking cues in smokers. Addiction 98:1409–1417

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Karin Mogg holds a Wellcome Senior Research Fellowship in Basic Biomedical Science.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matt Field.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Field, M., Mogg, K., Zetteler, J. et al. Attentional biases for alcohol cues in heavy and light social drinkers: the roles of initial orienting and maintained attention. Psychopharmacology 176, 88–93 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-004-1855-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-004-1855-1

Keywords

Navigation