EXTROVERSION AS A MODERATING VARIABLE IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SMOKELESS TOBACCO (ST) AND COGNITIVE TASK PERFORMANCE
 
DANIEL M. LANDERS AND MARC LOCHBAUM
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
 
Researchers have suggested that athletes may use ST because research has shown that ST users perform cognitively demanding tasks better than nonusers.  However, the finding that users are more extroverted than nonusers calls into question whether the ST itself or extroversion moderates this relationship.  To test this, two studies were conducted.  In both studies, subjects completed the Eysenck Personality Inventory and the dependent variables were percent accuracy and response times obtained from the Stroop Color-Word Task (SCW) and the Verbal Learning Memory Task (VLM).  Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) were obtained during performance of the two tasks.  Results showed that ST increased HR and BP, but findings did not support previous research showing that ST users were more extroverted than nonusers.  However, there were ST effects on performance.  In Study 1, 42 college-age males (ST users = 27, nonusers = 15) completed a baseline and ST placebo condition (nicotine-free ST) and these conditions were compared to a user ST condition.  Users given ST reacted more quickly and made fewer errors than users who were given a placebo ST (ESs ranging from .81 to 1.05).  In Study 2, 53 college-age males (ST users = 24; nonusers = 29) were randomly assigned to ST or ST placebo conditions and were either administered a placebo or a beta blocker to attenuate sympathetic nervous system activation.  Users in the beta-blocker condition had lower heart rates and significantly better performance than users in the placebo condition.  Although extroversion was not a significant moderator, the results indicate that some perturbations (placebo conditions) decrease ST users' performance, but other perturbations (beta-blocker) increase performance.

An abstract of this presentations appears in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 19 (June 1997 Supplement), S77.