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A randomized controlled trial of a "buddy" system to improve success at giving up smoking in general practice (1998)

West, Robert ; Edwards, Martin ; Hajek, Peter

Oxford, UK : Carfax Publishing Limited

Addiction 93 (1998), S. 0

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ISSN: 1360-0443

Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Topics: Medicine , Psychology

Notes: Aims. To assess the effect on abstinence rates of pairing up smokers attending a general practice smokers, clinic to provide mutual support between clinic sessions. Design. Randomized controlled trial comparing a "buddy" condition with a "solo condition" in which smokers received the same treatment but were not paired up. Setting. A general practice smokers' clinic in London. Participants. One hundred and seventy-two smokers recruited by mailshot. Intervention. Smokers attended a nurse-led smokers clinic 1 week prior to their quit date, on the quite date, 1 week later and 3 weeks after that. Smokers in the buddy condition were paired with another smoker trying to give up at the same time to provide mutual support between clinic sessions. Measurements. The main outcome measure was the percentage of smokers still abstinent from cigarettes at end of treatment (4 weeks from quit date), verified by expired air carbon monoxide concentration. Findings. The percentage of smokers still abstinent at the end of treatment was significantly higher in the buddy condition than the solo condition (27% vs. 12%). Conclusions. A buddy system can provide an effective element of a smoking cessation intervention at minimal cost. Further research is needed to establish the long-term efficacy of this approach and examine the effectiveness of incorporating social support into other types of smoking cessation programmes.

Type of Medium: Electronic Resource

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1360-0443.1998.93710075.x

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Modeling Human Chaotic Behavior: Nonlinear Forecasting Analysis of Logistic Iteration (1998)

Ward, Lawrence M. ; West, Robert L.

Springer

Nonlinear dynamics, psychology, and life sciences 2 (1998), S. 261-282

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ISSN: 1573-6652

Keywords: chaos ; nonlinear forecasting ; logistic ; heuristic ; computer simulation

Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000

Topics: Psychology

Notes: Abstract Does the unpredictability of human behavior arise from randomness, from deterministic but chaotic processes, or from humans' use of (possibly nonlinear deterministic) heuristics in coping with complicated situations? One way to find out might be to see whether humans can behave chaotically when asked to do so. Previous work showed that when humans are asked to generate a series of numbers according to a particular chaotic equation they can do so but not in exactly the way the equation would generate them. Nonetheless, their series of guesses do contain nonlinear deterministic structure, which is one indication that they may be generated by a chaotic process. Series of guesses generated by a computer simulation of a model that simulates the heuristic thought processes of the humans making the guesses also contain nonlinear deterministic structure of the same order as the logistic the humans are attempting to mimic. Thus, when faced with a chaotic process, humans seem to cope by using a heuristic process that approximates the chaotic process within the limitations of human memory and performance.