Alan W. Stacy

Theories of cognitive processes and risk behavior have not usually addressed spontaneous forms of cognition that may co-occur with, or possibly influence, behavior. This study evaluated whether measures of spontaneous cognition independently predict HIV risk behavior tendencies. Whereas a trait-centered theory suggests that spontaneous cognitions are a by-product of personality, a cognitive view hypothesizes that spontaneous cognitions should predict behavior independently of personality. The results revealed that spontaneous cognition was an independent predictor of behavior tendencies in cross-sectional analyses. Its predictive effect was stronger than drug use, a frequently emphasized correlate of HIV risk behavior in the literature, and comparable with sensation seeking in magnitude. The results suggested that a relatively spontaneous form of cognition may affect HIV risk behavior.

This article outlines several distinctions in cognition and related topics in emotion that receive support from work in cognitive neuroscience and have important implications for prevention: implic...

This study investigated a nonverbal test of memory for naturally occurring events: alcohol commercials. Such tests, supported by dual‐code and transfer‐appropriate processing perspectives from basic research, are useful for research on consumer behavior and public health. The participants were 750 adolescents who completed a nonverbal test of memory, tailored to detect prominent visual features of remembered alcohol commercials. The results showed (a) that independent judges reliably coded primary features of remembered advertisements along most dimensions, and (b) the test met important criteria for convergent and discriminant validity in comparisons with other measures. Applications were proposed for research on advertising effects, health behavior, and media copy testing.

To assess the impact of televised alcohol commercials on adolescents' alcohol use. Adolescents completed questionnaires about alcohol commercials and alcohol use in a prospective study. A one standard deviation increase in viewing television programs containing alcohol commercials in seventh grade was associated with an excess risk of beer use (44%), wine/liquor use (34%), and 3-drink episodes (26%) in eighth grade. The strength of associations varied across exposure measures and was most consistent for beer. Although replication is warranted, results showed that exposure was associated with an increased risk of subsequent beer consumption and possibly other consumption variables.

Previous studies have noted an association between exposure to alcohol advertising and adolescent alcohol use. However, exposure to alcohol advertising has been measured in various ways by many researchers. This study examined several different measures of exposure to alcohol advertising, including general television exposure, exposure to televised sports, perceived frequency of alcohol advertising exposure, advertisement recognition, receptivity to alcohol marketing, recall of brand names, and liking of alcohol advertisements. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association of each measure with alcohol use or intentions. In a sample of 591 adolescents in California, several advertising exposure measures were associated significantly with alcohol use: a scale of advertisement liking, a scale of media receptivity, and number of alcohol brands recalled. These associations were significant after controlling for the possible confounding effects of the other advertising exposure measures. Results suggest that both cognitive and affective responses to alcohol advertising may be risk factors for adolescent alcohol use

This article presents the proceedings of a symposium at the 2001 RSA Meeting in Montreal, Canada organized by Reinout W. Wiers and Alan W. Stacy. The purpose of the symposium was to present recent applications of implicit cognitive processing theory to alcohol research. Basic cognitive research has demonstrated that implicit cognition influences memory and behavior without explicit recall or introspection. The presentations from this symposium show that implicit cognition approaches yield new insights into understanding drinking motivation. The presentations were: (1) An introduction by Alan W. Stacy; (2) Implicit cognition and alcohol use. Involvement of other variables? (Susan L. Ames); (3) Alcohol expectancies and the art of implicit priming (Jane A. Noll); (4) Parental alcoholism and the effects of alcohol on semantic priming (Michael A. Sayette); (5) Implicit arousal and explicit liking of alcohol in heavy drinkers (Reinout W. Wiers); and (6) Negative affective cues and associative cognition in problem drinkers (Martin Zack). Comments were provided by the discussant Marvin Krank. The presented studies demonstrated that: (1) implicit memories of alcohol associations are powerful predictors and cross-sectional correlates of alcohol use; (2) implicit retrieval processes influence alcohol outcome expectancies and alcohol consumption; (3) alcohol consumption influences implicit memory processing; (4) heavy drinkers reveal different affective responses in implicit and explicit tasks; and (5) negative affect exerts an implicit priming effect for alcohol associations in problem drinkers. These findings illustrate the importance of implicit cognition in understanding alcohol abuse and demonstrate the potential of the theoretical framework for more widespread application across a variety of areas of alcohol research, including diagnostics for the risk of alcohol abuse, treatment, and prevention.