Atención visual a las señales de consumo de tabaco: un estudio preliminar empleando el seguimiento ocular

Abstract

Introduction: attention is a basic process related to addictive behavior. In smokers, the stimuli associated with consumption are relevant because they are present at the beginning and in the consolidation of the smoking habit. Therefore, to contribute to the understanding of addictive behaviors with objective measures, a study through eye-tracking techniques is presented. This would support the clinical process of people seeking to quit smoking. Objective: to study the attentional bias with images related to tobacco consumption in smoking and non-smoking participants, using an eye-tracking technique. Method: eight university students participated, who were assigned to two groups based on their Fagerström Test score. The experimental task consisted of the random presentation of 15 images related to tobacco consumption and 15 neutral images. During the experiment, visual fixations, latency and time to each image were recorded using an eye tracker. Results: a statistical analysis showed significant differences between moderate smokers and non-smokers when images related to tobacco use were presented in the three measure. Likewise, a qualitative analysis of the results shows differences between the participants when they were presented with neutral images and images related to tobacco. Discussion and conclusions: it is suggested that in the smoking participants there is an attentional bias towards the images related to tobacco consumption.