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Updated: Jun 3, 2026
Measuring Delay Discounting in Humans Using an Adjusting Amount Task
Published on: January 9, 2016
Development of a measure of the latency to needing a cigarette
W W Sanouri A Ursprung1, Paola Morello, Bernice Gershenson
1Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01655, USA.
Purpose:
People addicted to smoking experience a recurrent physiologic need to smoke anytime when they go too long without smoking. Our purpose was to evaluate the reliability and concurrent validity of a measure of the time elapsed between completion of smoking one cigarette and experiencing the need to smoke another (the latency to needing a cigarette-LTNC). We also investigated the relationship between the LTNC and dependence-related symptoms.
Methods:
An anonymous, self-administered survey was completed by 134 current adolescent smokers, and in a separate study, 32 smokers were asked to complete a retest.
Results:
A frequent need to smoke was reported by 84.3% of the current smokers. Consistent with published case histories, the duration of the LTNC varied widely between the individuals. Among subjects who reported a regular need to smoke, 48% reported that their LTNC had shortened over time. The median LTNC among subjects who had smoked <100 cigarettes was 243 hours as compared with 2 hours for those who had smoked ≥ 100 cigarettes (p < .001). Test-retest reliability was reported to be excellent (r = .85, p < .001). As expected, LTNC correlated moderately and inversely with daily cigarette consumption (ρ = -.53, p < .001). It also correlated inversely with cue-induced craving (ρ = -.64, p < .001), psychological reliance on cigarettes (ρ = -.43, p < .001), nicotine withdrawal (ρ = -.57, p < .001), and pleasure obtained from smoking (ρ = -.39, p < .001).
Conclusion:
The data obtained in this study support the reliability and concurrent validity of the LTNC measure.
