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A Preliminary Study of Smoking Abstinence Effects on Acquisition and Reversal Learning in a Probabilistic Learning
Sarah S Tonkin1, Ashton R Baltazar2, Taylor A Love2
1Department of Psychological Science, The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA.
Substance Use & Misuse
|May 21, 2026
Summary
Smokers showed improved cognitive flexibility in reversal learning tasks after 24-hour abstinence compared to their usual smoking patterns. This suggests nicotine withdrawal may enhance the ability to adapt to changing rules in cognitive tasks.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral neuroscience
- Cognitive psychology
- Addiction research
Background:
- Cigarette dependence involves continued smoking despite negative consequences.
- Reversal learning tasks assess cognitive flexibility in response to changing reinforcement.
- Limited research exists on smoking abstinence effects on human reversal learning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of 24-hour smoking abstinence versus smoking as usual (SAU) on learning acquisition and reversal learning.
- To evaluate how changes in reinforcement contingencies affect cognitive flexibility in smokers.
Main Methods:
- Participants (N=51) completed a reversal learning task across two visits.
- Abstinence condition (24-h abstinent vs. SAU) was randomly assigned and counterbalanced.
- Mixed effects models were used for data analysis.
Main Results:
- Learning acquisition was not significantly affected by abstinence condition (p > .13).
- Reversal learning performance showed a small improvement during 24-h abstinence (57% optimal responding) compared to SAU (52% optimal responding; p = .01).
Conclusions:
- Preliminary evidence suggests cigarette smoking may impair reversal learning.
- Smoking abstinence appears to improve reversal learning performance.
- Further research is needed to explore task and participant factors influencing reversal learning.
