The expectancy and pharmacological effects of nicotine (0.60 mg) on memory and the subjective effects of cigarettes were examined using a balanced-placebo design (i.e., expect either nicotine or no nicotine and receive either nicotine or no nicotine). A total of 120 college students who smoke were assigned to 1 of the 4 experimental groups and rated the cigarettes on a number of dimensions and completed questionnaires on smoking urges, tension, and energy. Participants also completed tests of memory as well as predictions of memory. Pharmacology played a stronger role than expectancy in most ratings of the cigarettes, but significant effects of expectancy did emerge for feelings of increased wakefulness, concentration, calming, cigarette satisfaction, and hunger reduction. The presence of nicotine significantly reduced smoking urges, but expectancy alone reduced tension after smoking. Neither variable produced significant effects on memory or memory predictions. These findings demonstrate that non-pharmacological factors can play an important role in the self-reported effects of nicotine. KeywordsBalanced-placebo design; Cigarette smoking; Nicotine; Stimulus Expectancy Many individuals who smoke may do so, at least in part, to induce cognitive changes in response to environmental demands. Consider college students who smoke while preparing for exams. Wesnes, Revell, and Warburton (1983) found that students smoked more cigarettes during exam weeks than during non-exam weeks. Moreover, 80% of students reported that smoking helped them concentrate, and 74% reported that smoking increased concentration. West and Lennox (1992) subsequently confirmed that college students smoked before exams to increase arousal during study, rather than to simply relieve stress or alleviate withdrawal. These studies suggest that nicotine's cognitive effects, or perhaps students' beliefs about nicotine's effects, may contribute to the maintenance of smoking behavior.There is now increasing recognition in the field of nicotine and tobacco research that numerous factors, including non-pharmacological factors, can play important roles in maintaining smokers' addiction to cigarettes (Johnson, Bickel, & Kirshenbaum, 2004;Perkins, Sayette, Conklin, & Caggiula, 2003). Hundreds of articles have been published on the pharmacological effects of nicotine on human cognition (for reviews, see Heishman, Taylor, & Henningfield, 1994;Sherwood, 1993), and there is a substantial body of research pointing to cognitive improvements from cholinergic stimulation by specific nicotinic receptor agonists and cognitive impairments with nicotinic antagonists (Levin, 1992;Rezwani & Levin, 2001 (Grunberg & Acri, 1991). The present research was designed to directly compare the effects of expectancy in smoking to the pharmacological changes induced by nicotine."Stimulus expectancy" (Kirsch, 1999;Perkins et al., 2004) can be manipulated through instructional sets, in which some participants are told to expect an active drug and others are told to expect an in...

In response to the tragically high incidence and negative consequences of female-directed violence in intimate relationships, a large literature has been dedicated to the investigation of the proximate and the ultimate or evolutionary predictors of men's partner-directed violence. Evolutionary psychology offers a framework for investigating the design of evolved information-processing mechanisms that motivate costly behaviors such as men's partner-directed violence. We review several forms of men's partner-directed violence, including insults, sexual coercion, physical violence, and homicide, from an evolutionary psychological perspective and with a particular focus on the adaptive problem of paternity uncertainty. The problem of paternity uncertainty is hypothesized to have selected for the emotion of male sexual jealousy, which in turn motivates men's nonviolent and violent mate retention behaviors. We review empirical evidence for the relationships among paternity uncertainty, male sexual jealousy, and men's partner-directed violence. We propose that a comprehensive understanding of men's partner-directed violence will be achieved only by careful consideration of both proximate and ultimate causes.

The association of high levels of alcohol use with different types of IPV perpetration and IPV victimization suggests a need for targeted services that address the co-occurring issues of alcohol use and IPV.