PERCEPTUAL PROCESSING IN TENDENCY TO ABUSE DRUGS: A STUDY OF REACTION TIME AND BIAS

Background and Aim : Drug abuse is one of the challenges in various societies leading to significant personal, social and health costs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reaction time and the bias in perceptual processing related to drug abuse tendency.Methods : The research is a correlational type with a descriptive-periodic approach. The statistical population of the study consisted of all undergraduate students at Razi University in Kermanshah in 1398. 400 students were selected by multistage cluster sampling method. They responded to the addiction tendency questionnaire (Zargar, 2006) and completed face/ house computer assignment (Hekrin, 2004). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and variance repeated measurement (ANOVA) using SPSS-26. Results : The results showed that there is a significant difference between the groups with high and low scores in drug addiction tendency. Also, there was a significant difference in the reaction time in perceptual processing and perceptual bias among groups.Conclusion : It can be said that the time of reaction and perceptual processing have important role in tendency toward drug abuse.

Keywords:

Drug abuse , perceptual processing , reaction speed , bias , student