Assignment: Cognitive Neuroscience Article Review Essay

Assignment: Cognitive Neuroscience Article Review Essay

Assignment Cognitive Neuroscience Article Review Essay

 

Massa, A. A., Subramani, O. S., Eckhardt, C. I., & Parrott, D. J. (2019). Problematic alcohol use and acute intoxication predict anger-related attentional biases: A test of the alcohol myopia theory. Psychology of addictive behaviors, 33(2), 139.

Problem solving in psychology is integral in finding remedies to complex solutions. In the contemporary society, compulsive alcohol consumption leads to vices which necessitates problem solving strategies. The need to develop solution stems from the negative impact of excessive drinking which affects other members of the society especially to the relatives of the alcoholic. The present study delves into a review of the article “Problematic Alcohol Use and Acute Intoxication Predict Anger-Related Attention Biases: A Test of the Alcohol Myopia Theory.” The study methods, participants and the implication of the findings in the context of psychology will form part of this discussion.

Major Findings/Conclusions of the Study

The selected study is based on an examination of the effects of alcohol on the development of aggressogenic cues. In other words, it assesses the interactive effect of compulsive alcohol use in the mediation of aggression among the study group. The research established a direct relationship between alcohol use and intimate partner aggression (IPA) (Massa et al., 2019). This is to suggest that alcohol use contributes to aggression as evidenced by violent episodes associated with heavy consumers. In this study, the required breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) was used as a parameter to assess alcohol levels among the participants.

The t-test analysis of the study variables yielded significant outcomes on post-task and pre-task with regard to BrAC levels. Results of the research indicated that problematic alcohol consumption was linked to the development of aggressogenic stimuli (Gallagher & Parrott, 2016). Besides, compulsive alcohol drinking leads to impaired cognitive processing, and this limits the ability of a consumer from responding to environmental stimuli. According to Endres and Fein (2013), heavy drinkers were associated with anger words which were emulated through violent behaviors. Acutely alcohol intoxicated participants manifested less aggression compared to those highly drunk. The study reveals that problematic drinkers experienced alcohol-facilitated cognitive bias which predisposes them to provocations from their partners as opposed to non-drinkers.

Alcohol use can have various effects on consumers. Excessive drinking is associated with the development of aggressogenic stimuli, and this affects the overall behavior of compulsive consumers. According to the study, people intoxicated with alcohol are susceptible to aggression. They are likely to be provoked by various environmental stimuli. However, they lack cognitive resources on how to respond to challenging stimuli in society, and they act out to justify their displeasure. The researcher established that one such pattern of behavior can be identified by extreme violent behaviors that might cause harm to others.

Implications for the Field of Psychology

The study yields a bundle of evidence to the psychologists as it relates to alcohol myopia theory (AMT) with the general effects of problematic drinking. The theory explores the pharmacological effects of alcohol drinking and its overall impact on impaired cognitive processing to the alcoholics. With this, the study is applied in the field of psychology to relate how alcohol intoxication influences thought processing and behavior of moderate to compulsive consumers. The psychologists cannot ignore the attention-narrowing effect of alcohol intoxication as this affects the cognitive processing of the drinkers. The latter are likely to encounter poor judgment and manifest destructive behavior due to poor coping strategies to challenging environmental stimuli. Besides, the heavy drinkers were focused on a specific set of tasks especially those they perceive appealing to their aggression cues. The research is crucial to the field of psychology as provocative cues resulting from excessive drinking makes alcoholics have a predictable pattern of behavior (Gazzaniga & Ivry, 2013). Psychologists will also assess the main effects of problematic drinking and evaluate how such practices are retained to influence the next drinking behavior of the alcoholics.

In so far, the findings of the study especially those related to behavior changes enable psychologists to identify practice patterns of alcoholics. In turn, counselors will be able to formulate therapy approaches that respond to the unique demands of the compulsive drinkers (Massa et al., 2019). Often, problematic alcohol use necessitates a therapy plan to address behavior changes that will not lead to relapse. The psychologists will use the findings from this research to identify the status of aggressogenic cues that cause attentional bias among the compulsive drinkers. The aim of the intervention will be therefore tailored to lower the attentional bias threshold so as to shift the pattern of behavior of alcoholics against destructive actions. The findings from the study also enable psychology professionals to categorize anger as the most aggressogenic cue to address while providing counseling to alcoholics.  Besides, the counselors develop an understanding that provocations aggravate anger due to challenges that alcoholics encounter as they respond to various environmental stimuli (Everitt, 2014). The premise guides on the selection of interventions by first focusing on the environmental provocation before addressing the actual problems faced by the heavy drinkers.

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Method/Participants

The study commenced with the recruitment of intimate couples as participants across two metropolitan cities in the United

States of America. The study population was screened using a telephone to assess their eligibility for the research. Participants with serious head trauma related to injuries, medical complications or psychiatric conditions were excluded from the study. Couples meeting the eligibility criteria were randomly selected and included as participants in the research. Based on the selection criteria using telephone screening, 613 couples were identified as eligible for the study. 324 couples were excluded as they reported nonheterosexual identity. 289 were considered for the research, but 29 couples were excluded for not achieving the recommended BrAC while 11 participants opted to withdraw from the research. The final number of participants was 249 with men making up 148 while women 101.

Alcohol use disorder identification test, provocation, and dot-probe task were used to assess the aggressogenic cues of the participants. A questionnaire was availed to randomly selected participants. The latter were grouped as either Session 1 (index participants on alcoholic beverage) or Session 2 (participants on non-alcoholic beverage). Pain threshold assessment was used to determine the shocks they encountered as they performed competitive tasks. Interview schedules were organized between the researcher and the participant to provide feedback about their experiences.

Strengths/Limitations of the Study

The study provides validity on the acute and long-term effect of alcohol consumption among the participants. In other words, the study variables can be assessed using the alcohol myopia theory to relate the cognitive effects of drinking. The findings are reliable as the major focus are narrowed on alcohol intoxication as well as attention deployment (Massa et al., 2019). The specific focus of the study enables psychology professional to target their intervention by analyzing factors potential in causing impaired cognition among the alcoholics. The study also uses a large sample size to conclude the aggressogenic cues emulated by alcoholics. This leads to a high level of accuracy on the outcome to provide evidence on practice. The present study is also consistent with the previous research on attentional biases of alcohol intoxicated individuals.

On the contrary, the current research uses a retrospective self-reporting questionnaire, a tool that is subject to selective reporting together memory biases. Application of the approach can lead to underreporting on alcohol use and inadequate information about potential problems related to misuse (Purvis et al., 2016). The selected participants comprised of heterosexual individuals reported to be heavy drinkers and most of whom could be subject to relationship conflict. As such, the study findings represent a generalization of behavioral patterns for unique populations which might not be accurate to all alcoholics. Future research needs to focus on how alcohol-facilitated aggressogenic cues influence behavior among consumers.

For this assignment, select a peer-reviewed journal article relating to an area of problem solving, decision making, or an intelligence theory that was discussed in class (e.g., fluid or crystalline intelligence, primary/secondary reinforcers, biases, or effective problem-solving strategies).
The article must meet the following criteria:
The article must be from a peer-reviewed journal.
The article must be obtained from the GCU Library.
The article must be a research study, rather than a literature review (i.e., the article has to have methods, results, and discussion sections).
The article must utilize a cognitive or behavioral theory, model, or effect.
The purpose of this article review is to get you to think critically about an area of cognition or learning. After reading your chosen article, address the following questions. Use subheadings to differentiate between the various aspects of your review. Remember, APA guidelines can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
Major Findings/Conclusions:
Be sure to include the major findings of the study.
What conclusions did the researchers draw from the data?
Implications for the Field of Psychology (how the findings could be used/applied in the field):
Include how the results of the study can be applied (e.g., why are the findings of the study important?). These may be the implications the authors put forth, or your own ideas (be sure to cite if they are not your ideas).
How would psychology/education/counseling professionals benefit (learn) from the findings?
How might the results improve knowledge or application in the field? What should psychology professionals “take away” from the findings?
Method/Participants:
Describe the basics of how the study was conducted. What procedures were used?
Who were the participants?
Strengths/Limitations of the Study:
Include at least one strength AND one limitation you saw in the study.
Explain why you believe each is a strength or limitation. Hint: study findings are not “strengths” in and of themselves.

Link to access the database is below and the log in is Username: SEl-Beck
Password:Lynn1996
https://library.gcu.edu/Database

For assignments that need to be submitted to Lopes Write, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.

Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.

Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?

Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.

Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.

If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.

I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.

As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:

Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.

Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• Student paper example
• Citing Sources
• The Writing Center is a great resource