Importance of environmental distractors in the effects of nicotine on short-term memory.
This study examined the role of environmental context in mediating the effects of nicotine on short-term memory performance (i.e., working memory). Male and female smokers (n = 12, overnight tobacco abstinent) and nonsmokers (n = 11) were administered nicotine (20 ug/kg) and a placebo (0 ug/kg) by means of a measured-dose nasal spray procedure on separate days. Participants were tested on a variant of S. Sternberg's (1966) memory search task. Half of the memory task sets involved the presentation of an auditory environmental distraction. Improvements in short-term memory performance with nicotine were primarily seen in smokers and in the presence of the distracting stimuli. These results suggest that environmental conditions, such as the presence of a distracting stimulus, may play an important role in mediating the effects of nicotine.
Grobe
J E
JE
Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, USA. jegrobe@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Perkins
K A
KA
Goettler-Good
J
J
Wilson
A
A
D000328:Adult; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000187:drug effects*; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*
D009538:Nicotine