Title of article :
Comparison of Decision-Making Processes Between Subjects with a Positive and Negative History of Substance Use
Author/Authors :
rastgoo sisakht, reza Department of Neuroscience and Addiction Studies - School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine - Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Negarandeh, Rahimeh Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) - Southern Tehran Project , Valizadegan, Hamid Behsazan Mellat Co, Tehran , Mousavi, Shabnam Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany , Noroozian, Maryam Memory and Behavioral Neurology Division - Department of Psychiatry - Ruzbeh Hospital - Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehrani-doost, Mehdi Department of Neuroscience and Addiction Studies - School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine - Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Razaghi, Emran School of Advanced Technologies - Tehran University of Medical Sciences
Abstract :
background: studies related to decision-making and choice preference in substance use behavior have less commonly focused on decision-making processes per se. those processes include decision-making time, task-based complexity, and decision-making strategies. objectives: the objectives of this studywasthe production of a culturallymodifiedversion of the mouselab tool formeasurementof decision-making processes and to measure differences between decision-making processes in subjects with a positive and negative history of substance use. methods: applying a snowball method for sampling, two groups, of individuals with a positive and negative history of substance use were recruited. the case and control groups consisted of 17 males with the mean age of 35.94 ( 12) and 33.8 ( 8.83) years, respectively. the measurement tool was a modified version of mouselab computer game. results: using repeated measurement analysis of variances ant t-test with non-paired groups for comparing the case and control groups, it was found that the group with a positive history of substance use had a longer time-lapse in the decision-making process (p = 0.029). the accuracy of choice, however, was not different between the groups (p = 0.172). conclusions: subjects with a positive history of substance use were different in two stages of decision-making process, which are dependent on the ecology and conditions of decision-making process, namely, search for information and decision-making. two other stages of decision-making process that were dependent on individual cognitive and logical properties, i.e., stop search and choice, were not different in subjects with a positive history of substance use compared to the control group. although subjects with a positive history of substance use consumed more resources for decision-making, their accuracy of choice was not different from the control group, thereby, ruling out a decision-making-related cognitive deficit.
Keywords :
Decision-Making , Choice, Process Tracing , Substance Use , Decision-Making Software
