Reaction Time, Noise Distraction and Autonomic Responsivity in Smokers and Non-Smokers

Abstract

Non-smokers, ‘low-arousal smokers,’ and ‘high-arousal smokers’ were exposed to interminent, aperiodic noise of 100 db (A) while performing a choice reaction time task. The former were smokers who experienced their strongest need to smoke in low-arousal situations characterized by, e.g., monotony and low-level stimulation, while the latter experienced their strongest need to smoke in high-arousal situations characterized by anxiety and high-level stimulation. Behavioral measures of decision time and movement time were examined together with tonic and phasic measures of skin conductance and heart rate during noise and in response to a single high intensity 100 db (A) auditory tone. Relative to a noise-free condition, noise significantly impaired decision time of smokers and this was paralleled by autonomic response measures to tone stimulation which were reflective of less efficient defensive response mechanisms to aversive stimulation. Significant differences were also observed between low-and high-arousal smokers.