Substance use on memory and attention

jesse_wg

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 26, 2008
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Hey guys and gals, I am completing and Honours Degree in Psychology and Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn. We are interested in the ways with which different substances may affect long term performance on a number of cognitive measures which assess memory and attention. We require people aged 18 and over to complete a short online study. You will be asked to complete a few simple tasks that assess memory and attention. We will then ask you to fill out a questionnaire asking how much caffeine you normally consume and some questions about you, as a number of other factors (for instance whether you smoke, drink or exercise) can affect your performance. You will also be asked if you have consumed any illicit drugs before and if so your levels of use. Even if you do not consume any caffeine, alcohol or drugs we would still be grateful for your participation as we require data from people that do not consume these things as well as those who do. Some of the information you provide may relate to illegal activity (illicit drug use), however, all of this information will be completely anonymous and you will not be identifiable from your responses.

Everything should take no more than 20 minutes to complete. All information submitted will be completely anonymous and will be stored in a secure manner that will not allow access by anybody other than the researchers conducting the current project and researchers from the Human Cognitive Neuroscience Unit at Northumbria University. Participation is completely voluntary and you are free to end the study at any time or to withdraw your responses before finishing the measures.

We would really appreciate your time and consideration in completing this study to further our knowledge about the different effects that caffeine, alcohol and drugs may have on memory and attention. If you would like to take part in this study, please follow this link:

http://www.caffeineresearch.org.uk/test24.html

Please feel free to pass this link onto friends and family or anyone you think may be interested in participating in this research.


30-08-2008 18:22
Hey everyone, I am completing and Honours Degree in Psychology at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn.

I am interested in the ways with which different substances may affect long term performance on a number of cognitive measures which assess memory and attention.
I require people aged 18 and over to attend a short session in a computer lab at Swinburne University in Hawthorn where you will be asked to complete a few simple tasks that assess memory and attention. This should take about ten minutes. We will then ask you to fill out a questionnaire asking how you normally consume for a number of different substances, along with some questions about yourself, as a number of other factors (for instance whether you smoke, drink or exercise) can affect your performance. You will also be asked if you have consumed any illicit drugs before and if so your levels of use. Finally, we will also ask you to provide a hair sample in order to assess any substance use over the prior few months. Even if you do not consume any caffeine, alcohol or drugs we would still be grateful for your participation as we require data from people that do not consume these things as well as those who do.
Some of the information you provide may relate to illegal activity (illicit drug use), however, all of this information will be completely anonymous and you will not be identifiable from your responses. The hair samples provided will be identified to your responses by only number and no personally identifiable information will be gathered. Hair samples will be destroyed once analysis of substance use is completed, and no other information will be gained from the hair samples provided.
Everything should take no more than 20 minutes to complete. All information submitted will be completely anonymous and will be stored in a secure manner that will not allow access by anybody other than the researchers conducting the project. Participation is completely voluntary and you are free to end the study at any time or to withdraw your responses before finishing the measures.
I would really appreciate your time and consideration in completing this study to further our knowledge about the different effects that caffeine, alcohol and drugs may have on memory and attention.
Sessions will be held between now and the end of September.

If you are interested in taking part in this study, please contact me at [email protected].

Please feel free to pass these details onto friends and family or anyone you think may be interested in participating in this research.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Good question, thanks. Unfortunately you cannot complete both the version here and the one advertised at http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=394136. This study consists of two administration modes with effectively the same content, one online and one conducted at Swinburne University, therefore if you completed it twice the results would be confounded by previous participation.

If people are in Melbourne and are interested in taking part please do not complete the online version version advertised in this thread. If you are able to make it to Swinburne for a 20 minute session then I would much prefer this as participants are much harder to get for this version. If this is the case please contact me at [email protected].

Cheers.
 
Slay said:
this test is too hard:(

There are a few measures of memory and attention in the questionnaire. If all of them were easy then it would make it impossible to differentiate between people with good memory and attention and those with poorer performance! That being said I found the tests quite interesting although they might be challenging. I hope that people are still willing to complete the test though. It is only short and shouldn't take longer than 15 mins!
 
^ Aren't you worried that your data might be confounded by the notion that a lot of the people logging onto this website might be on drugs as they take the test, or coming down off them? Maybe you should mention that the user shouldn't be intoxicated or feeling the aftereffects of substance use?

Sorry I'm being picky, I get to do my honours thesis in Psychology next year :)
 
It's a fair suggestion, but then there's no reason why referrals from other sites may not have participants under the influence of a glass of sherry. Admittedly, the risk is perhaps higher from a site devoted to drug use, but all remote studies suffer from the risk that you cannot judge intoxication risk.

Perhaps it is worth mentioning this in the guidance for future studies advertised on this forum.
 
Doooofus said:
^ Aren't you worried that your data might be confounded by the notion that a lot of the people logging onto this website might be on drugs as they take the test, or coming down off them? Maybe you should mention that the user shouldn't be intoxicated or feeling the aftereffects of substance use?

Sorry I'm being picky, I get to do my honours thesis in Psychology next year :)

It would be ideal if people interested in completing this study do so when they are completely sober. The questionnaire does ask if you are currently under the influence of drugs or alcohol and obviously relies on peoples honesty in reporting this. This will be taken into account in any subsequent analysis.
 
jesse_wg said:
There are a few measures of memory and attention in the questionnaire. If all of them were easy then it would make it impossible to differentiate between people with good memory and attention and those with poorer performance! That being said I found the tests quite interesting although they might be challenging. I hope that people are still willing to complete the test though. It is only short and shouldn't take longer than 15 mins!
well i have really fucked up memory lol i couldnt even memorize one word in the test. and those numbers was really hard, i know its simple math but it was hard for me at least:) - and that was where i gave up i guess:p:D im planning to do it again soon tho:)
 
I was on a small amount of xanax when I took the test, and I answered "yes" to the question of "are you on any of the above drugs right now?"... It seems to broad a question considering that could mean that I was on ecstasy or very drunk when I took the test...
 
I did this test a few years ago with in Thurston house rehab. I scored highest on the subtract 7
 
This project still seems to be up and running. It's actually quite an interesting test! Would be great if we could get personal feedback but understand this is not possible.

It's basically a memory test which I think they are relating back to caffeine use as well as other drug use history. I look forward to seeing the results!
 
Just tried it and had to stop after only a few seconds. My memory is crap.
 
Admirals have fins. :D Wifes CAN be manufactured in factories...:D

That was a fun test, though fucking weird too...
 
Yeah...

I did send an email to the OP. No response unfortunately.
 
Hair MDMA Samples Are Consistent with Reported Ecstasy Use: Findings from a Study Investigating Effects of Ecstasy on Mood and Memory

Andrew Scholey
Lauren Owen
Jesse Gates
Jacqui Rodgers
Tom Buchanan
Jonathan Ling

Brain Sciences Institute, Swinburne University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Neuropsychobiology (Impact Factor: 2.26). 10/2010; 63(1):15-21. DOI: 10.1159/000321833
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT
Our group has conducted several Internet investigations into the biobehavioural effects of self-reported recreational use of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine or Ecstasy) and other psychosocial drugs. Here we report a new study examining the relationship between self-reported Ecstasy use and traces of MDMA found in hair samples.

In a laboratory setting, 49 undergraduate volunteers performed an Internet-based assessment which included mood scales and the University of East London Drug Use Questionnaire, which asks for history and current drug use. They also provided a hair sample for determination of exposure to MDMA over the previous month.

Self-report of Ecstasy use and presence in hair samples were consistent (p < 0.00001). Both subjective and objective measures predicted lower self-reported ratings of happiness and higher self-reported stress. Self-reported Ecstasy use, but not presence in hair, was also associated with decreased tension.

Different psychoactive drugs can influence long-term mood and cognition in complex and dynamically interactive ways. Here we have shown a good correspondence between self-report and objective assessment of exposure to MDMA. These data suggest that the Internet has potentially high utility as a useful medium to complement traditional laboratory studies into the sequelae of recreational drug use.

source and original paper
 
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