Trends in the study of implicit alcohol related cognition

Revista de Psicología Vol. 35 (2), 2017 (ISSN 0254-9247) Trends in the study of implicit alcohol related cognition María Ayelén Biscarra1, Karina Conde2 y Mariana Cremonte3 Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas According to the dual process model, the interaction between explicit (controlled) and implicit (automatic) cognitions would allow the understanding of irrational actions like addictive behaviors. This model has gained great popularity among addiction researchers, leading to an exponential growth in publications on implicit alcohol related cognition (IAC). Hence, the goal of this article is to identify trends in the study of IAC by means of a bibliometric and content analysis of the empirical studies published up to May, 2013. Throughout this paper, the studied topics of IAC were characterized, the most prolific countries, authors and journals were recognized, the most cited publications were detected and the most employed methods were identified. Key words: implicit cognition, alcohol, review article, bibliometric analysis, content analysis. Tendencias en el estudio de la cognición implícita relacionada con el alcohol De acuerdo al modelo del doble procesamiento, la interacción entre cogniciones explícitas (controladas) e implícitas (automáticas) permitiría entender acciones irracionales, tales como los comportamientos adictivos. Este modelo ha ganado mucha popularidad entre quienes investigan el consumo de sustancias, produciéndose un crecimiento exponencial de las publicaciones sobre Cogniciones Implícitas hacia el Alcohol (CIA). Por ello, el objetivo de este artículo es describir las tendencias en el estudio de la CIA mediante un análisis bibliométrico y de contenido de los estudios empíricos publicados hasta mayo del 2013. A lo largo de este trabajo se caracterizan las temáticas de las CIA encontradas y se identifican los países, autores y revistas más productivas, las publicaciones más citadas y los métodos más utilizados. Palabras clave: cognición implícita, alcohol, artículo de revisión, análisis bibliométrico, análisis de contenido. 1 2 3 Licenciada en Psicología. Becaria doctoral de CONICET. Dirección postal: Funes 3250, Cuerpo V Nivel III, Mar del Plata, CP 7600. Contacto: Magíster en Investigación e Innovación en Salud, Cuidados y Calidad de Vida. Becaria doctoral de CONICET. Dirección postal: Funes 3250, Cuerpo V Nivel III, Mar del Plata, CP 7600. Contacto: Licenciada en Psicología. Investigadora Adjunta en CONICET. Profesora titular en UNMDP. Directora del grupo de investigación Sustancias Psicoactivas y Lesiones por Causa Externa de la UNMDP. Dirección postal: Funes 3250, Cuerpo V Nivel III, Mar del Plata, CP 7600. Contacto: Revista de Psicología, Vol. 35 (2), 2017, pp. 725-766 (ISSN 0254-9247) Tendências no estudo da cognição implícita relacionada com o álcool De acordo com o modelo de processamento dual, a interação entre cognições explícitas (controladas) e implícitas (automáticas) audaría as ações irracionais, tais como os comportamentos aditivos. Este modelo ganhou muita popularidade entre os pesquisadores do consumo de substâncias, produzindo um crescimento exponencial de as publicações sobre cognições implícitas relacionadas com o álcool (CIA). Portanto, o objetivo deste artigo é descrever as tendências no estudo da CIA através de um análise bibliométrico e de conteúdo de estudos empíricos publicados até maio de 2013. Ao longo deste artigo são caracterizados os temas da CIA encontrados e são identificados países, autores e revistas mais produtivos, as publicações mais citadas e os métodos mais utilizados. Palavras-chave: cognição implícita, álcool, artigo de revisão, análise bibliométrico, análise de conteúdo. 726 Trends in the study of implicit alcohol related cognition / Biscarra, Conde, Carcelén Traditionally, substance use decision-making has been explained by approaches that emphasize the rationality of the person and consider that individuals evaluate the cost-benefit impact of every option before undertaking an action. However, as Wiers & de Jong (2006) postulate, a central paradox of addiction is that addicted people continue consuming despite knowing the associated risks. In order to explain these irrational behaviors, during the 70s and 80s, several new theories proposed the existence of two processes underlying behavior: an explicit and controlled process and an implicit and automatic process (Chaiken, 1980; Devine, 1989; Fazio, Sanbonmatsu, Powell & Kardes, 1986; Wason & Evans, 1975). The former acts in a similar way to traditional decision-making approaches: allows for rational, conscious, controllable and rule-based evaluations. The latter is closely tied to intuition and affect, which are automatic, faster, less conscious, less controllable assessments and also more difficult to adjust to expectations and social pressure (Sloman, 1996). Altogether, these theories are known as the Dual Process Model (DPM). The interesting thing about this model is its suggestion that although the two processes interact to give rise to behavior (Gawronski & Payne, 2010), sometimes a conflict between them may occur, such that the explicit process guides to an action (stop drinking) while the implicit process suggests another (continue drinking). In this cases, the predominance of one or other process on behavior will depend on several factors, including: the cognitive effort required by the behavior and its degree of habituation (Conner, Perugini, O’Gorman, Ayres & Prestwich, 2007), the level of motivation or opportunity that the subject has to make a thoughtful deliberation (Fazio, 1990), the ability of self-regulation and the cognitive resources (Friese, Bargas-Avila, Hofmann & Wiers, 2010), the age (Krank & Goldstein, 2006) and the development of the frontal lobe (Goldberg & Podell, 2000). 727 Revista de Psicología, Vol. 35 (2), 2017, pp. 725-766 (ISSN 0254-9247) Since its formulation, DPM has gained great popularity among researchers of substance consumption, leading to an exponential growth in publications on implicit alcohol related cognition (IAC). Several dimensions of the IAC have been studied, such as alcohol attentional bias and implicit alcohol associations stored in semantic memory (e.g. associations between alcohol and: positive and negative attributes, arousal and sedation states, approach and avoidance concepts, etc.). Different indirect methods to assess IAC have been used, such as reaction time tasks (e.g. Implicit Association Test, Extrinsic Affective Simon Task), priming tasks (e.g. Affective Priming Paradigm, Affect Misattribution Procedure) and word association tasks (e.g. Word Association Test, Outcome Association Test) (Biscarra, Conde, Cremonte & Ledesma, 2016). It has been suggested that the onset of alcohol would depend on the explicit process while the implicit process would play a more important role in the continued use (Wiers & Stacy 2006 (...truncated)