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.