title: Development of a Virtual Approach-Avoidance Task to Assess Alcohol Cravings.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to develop a new approach-avoidance task in a virtual environment that could be used to assess the response to virtual alcohol-related situations by heavy social drinkers (HSDs) and light social drinkers (LSDs). Thirty-six male undergraduates (18 HSDs, 18 LSDs) responded to signals when they pulled or pushed a joystick after watching scenes of alcohol- or nonalcohol-related situations in a virtual environment. The HSD group spent more time on moving away from alcohol-related situations than nonalcohol-related situations. We found that the HSD group had difficulty in avoiding alcohol-related situations in the virtual environment. The Virtual Approach-Avoidance Task might more accurately measure the levels of social drinkers' craving to drink as it provides realistic situations and allows individuals to be immersed in virtual environments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Chung-Ang University , Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Deok-Yong
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Chung-Ang University , Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jang-Han
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology*; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D066249:Craving; D003463:Cues; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012919:Social Behavior; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D063367:Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy; D055815:Young Adult