The dependent variables from selleck chemicals the paradigm were delay duration and number of cigarettes selected. Procedure All study procedures are depicted in Supplementary Figure 1 and were approved by the University of Georgia Institutional Review Board. To equate nicotine exposure, all participants were required to have smoked within 15min of the beginning of the session. The session began with an assessment of demographics, such as ethnicity, gender, and income. The VR cue reactivity procedure commenced, starting with a VR acclimation procedure. This was followed by the cue exposures, with the neutral cue condition administered before the tobacco cue condition to control for carryover influences of the tobacco cues (Sayette, Griffin, & Sayers, 2010). The state motivational measures were administered immediately following the cue exposures.

The self-administration protocol then followed, with the delay period followed by the cigarette consumption period. At the completion of the self-administration period, participants were debriefed and provided with their compensation. Data Analysis All variables were screened for outliers through the utilization of a Z = ��3.29 cutoff score (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2004). Outliers were addressed across variables by transforming respective cases to the next highest nonoutlying value. An iterative process was utilized for the CPT assessments at both a price and index level. Across the CPT assessments, a total of 4.02% of price-level responses were identified as outliers, which were each subsequently coded as the next highest nonoutlying value.

One index level outlier was observed for the PTC CPT assessment (i.e., Elasticity). Participant CPT performance was also initially examined for evidence of low effort or persistent task inattention, using a criterion of >2 contradictions at escalating prices. Initial examination of the CPT data across both timepoints suggested low effort responding in three individuals, who were excluded from all further analyses. A total of five individuals did not reach Breakpoint during the PNC CPT assessment, rendering Breakpoint analysis impossible for these individuals due to ceiling effects. One individual reported a non-numeric value for the free price interval across both CPT assessments, thus precluding this individual from Intensity analyses. The CPT indices were operationalized using standard procedures.

Intensity was defined as consumption at zero cost. Omax was defined as maximum expenditure across prices. Pmax was defined as the price corresponding with Omax. Breakpoint was defined as the first price at which consumption is completely suppressed. Elasticity of demand was derived using the Anacetrapib nonlinear exponential demand curve model (Hursh & Silberberg, 2008) equation: log10 Q = log10 Q0 + where Q = consumption at a given price, Q0 = consumption intercept/derived intensity, k = range of the dependent variable (i.e.