2006/12/01 by Reínout W. Wiers, Alan W. Stacy · 320 citations
Psychology · Neuroscience · #Behavioral Health and Interventions #Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies #Mental Health Research Topics #Addiction #Psychology #Cognition #Substance abuse #Cognitive psychology #Psychological intervention #Psychotherapist #Neuroscience #Psychiatry
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2006.00455.x
published in Current Directions in Psychological Science 15(6), 292-296 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2006/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Extensive recent research has begun to unravel the more implicit or automatic cognitive mechanisms in addiction. This effort has increased our understanding of some of the perplexing characteristics of addictive behaviors. The problem, often, is not that substance abusers do not understand that the disadvantages of continued use outweigh the advantages; rather, they have difficulty resisting their automatically triggered impulses to use their substance of abuse. Existing interventions may help to moderate these impulses. In addition, new techniques aimed at directly modifying implicit cognitive processes in substance abuse are being developed.