Addiction and Eyes on Screen: How Smokers Process Smoking-Related PSAs.

The purpose of this study is to understand how addicted smokers process smoking-related PSAs by looking at fixation duration of eyes on screen, which may suggest resources allocated to visual attention. Smokers (like all addicts) are appetatively activated by images of their addicted substance (in this case smoking and cigarettes). However, with complex stimuli, like PSAs, it is possible that smoking cues will elicit avoidance responses in accordance with the fear appeal literature or that they will elicit overload. Smoking cues in PSAs should be processed similarly to complex stimuli (operationalized in this case as high in Information Introduced (I-squared)) due to the emotional nature of these cues which should call forth significant resources for processing. It is also likely that individual difference variables in addiction to tobacco and sensation seeking will moderate effects. This is research is funded by the National Cancer Institute's Effects of Public Information in Cancer (EPIC) Center of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research, reference number 5P50CA095856-05. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]