szarekw@lonexc.radc.af.mil (William J. Szarek) (04/15/91)
What is the best way to withdraw from dependancy on nicotine. What I am looking for is a formula (mathematical) that describes the number of cigaretts per day that a person may smoke when withdrawing from nicotine over a given period of time. The formula should describe this number as a function of the number of cigaretts the person smokes now and how long the person has to quit (am I overlooking other variables?). Is the function linear, log, or some other base function. Any information would be appreciated. thanks Buzz (szarekw@lonex.radc.af.mil)
sloderb@mailer.cc.fsu.edu (Mike Sloderbeck) (04/17/91)
In article <1991Apr15.125517.16718@lonex.radc.af.mil> szarekw@lonexc.radc.af.mil (William J. Szarek) writes: >What is the best way to withdraw from dependancy on nicotine. What I am >looking for is a formula (mathematical) that describes the number of cigaretts >per day that a person may smoke when withdrawing from nicotine over a given >period of time. The formula should describe this number as a function of >the number of cigaretts the person smokes now and how long the person has >to quit (am I overlooking other variables?). Is the function linear, log, >or some other base function. A behavioral psychologist (Hartje) suggested this method: After determining the initial number of cigs/day, you must change when you smoke them. Think about when one smokes (after a meal, when a phone conversation starts, etc.). Instead of smoking your n cigs on this "variable interval" reinforcement schedule, change to a "fixed interval" schedule (1 per m minutes). Then taper off according to the function you are going to come up with. Variable (interval or frequency) reinforcement schedules are the most effective to reinforce the behavior (consider the lottery player). I am unaware of any references to the success of this method of changing schedules. -- Mike Sloderbeck, FSU Department of Biological Science sloderb@mailer.cc.fsu.edu