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Group Research & Development Centre, British-American Tobacco Co. Ltd., SOU THAMP TON. RPF/RA/46E THE FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF SMOKING IN EVERYDAY LIFE REPORT NO. RD.1962 RESTRICTED 24th April, 1984 AUTHOR: R.P. Ferris GROUP LEADER: R.P. Ferris ISSUED BY: C.I. Ayres DISTRIBUTION: Dr. L.C.F. Blackman C~py No. I, 2, 3 Dr. R.A. Sanford 4 Mr. E.E. Kohnhorst " " 5, 6 Dr. P.J. Dun~ " = 7 Mr. R.S. Wade = , 8, 9, 10 Mr. R.G. Nicho|Is " = 11, 12 Herr E. Rittershaus " " 13 Dr. F. Seehofer = " 14 Dr. C.J.P. de Siqueira " * 15 Mr. W. Van Putten " " 16 Mr. R.F. GilderdaIe = " 17 Library " " 18, 19 COPY NO. /9 J c~ Cr~ i i: 4 O 1984 Br.:ish P.m¢:k:an Tc,hacco Co. L~L T'nis repon rnu~t not Ix= copied or sttown to unautl'~ised pcr~ns. BATCo document for Legal Services • Health Canada 19 May 1999

-i- % Group Research & Development Centre, British-American Tobacco Co. Ltd., SOUTHAMPTON. RPF/RA/46E 24th April, lg84 f THE FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF SMOKING IN EVERYDAY LIFE REPORT NO. RD.Ig62 RESTRICTED EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report brings together available evidence on the role of smoking within the framework of human behaviour in everyday life. It indicates that when we take this broader view of smoking it is possible to discern a number of functional contributions which the act of smoking makes to personal "life skills'. It is apparent that nicotine largely underpins these contributions through its role as a generator of central physlological arousal effects which express themselves as changes ~n human performance and psychological well-being. Evidence is examined illustrating that smoking may have a facilitating effect in the following areas: (i) (il) (ill) (iv) (v) (vi) (vi i ) (viii) improved selective attention, improved sustained vigilance, improved long-term memory, an efficient stress coping strategy, reduction of aggression, reduction of boredom, generation of feelings of well being, easing of social interactions. -i- 0 ,~,o. C;o BATCo document for Legal Services • Health Canada 19 May 1999

b The conclusions ara put forward that smoking has a functional value in acting as a personal tool by which the smoker adjusts his psychological responses to the world at large, and that the balance of psychological evidence shows that smoking can produce genuine increments in human performance which cannot be rationalised from simple interpretations of smoking as a habit or addiction. -ii- 0 t984 nritish Am~r~.'~n To~¢¢o Co. L.~d. This report m~st ~oc b~ copied or shown to unLLn, horLs=d lx'~,ons. 0 P~ O~ OD BATCo document for Legal Services • Health Canada 19 May 1999

Group Research & Development Centre, British-American Tobacco Co. Ltd., SOUTHAMPTON. RPF/RA/46E 24th April, 1984 THE FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF SMOKING IN EVERYDAY LIFE REPORT N(]. RD.1962 RESTRICTED TECHNICAL ABSTRACT Attempts to explain smoking behaviour have developed from epidemiological and pharmacological foundations, the former being concerned with 'tar', its effect on the body, and purported health risk; the latter being concerned with nicotine, its effects on the brain, and purported addiction. Despite the fact that smokers report the effects of smoking to be beneficial, neither approach could be considered sympathetic to the notion that smoking may have functional value for the smoker. More importantly, neither approach provides a comprehensive explanation of what smoking is or does. A psychological interpretation of smoking takes a less fragmented perspective on smoking by considering the whole person; the whole cigarette and the way smoking behaviour fits into the individual's repertoire of 'life skills'. A life skill being defined as a particular personal performance attribute which contributes to an individual's effectiveness or well being. Typical life skills would be coping with stress; problem solving; social skills and other similar behavi oural situations. -iii - O 1984 BrEish ArncriCxn Tobacco Co. L~. This repor~ muse no( be copied or shown to unau=horiscd pcr~on,~. BATCo document for Legal Services • Health Canada 19 May 1999

,, lllI 'i~ , mL,~ FI~ To understand smoking, just as any other behaviour, it is necessary to consider it as a process embedded within everyday life. Smoking is then seen as a personal tool used by the smoker to refine his behaviour and reactions to the world at large. Psychologists point out that the key to this functional value of smoking lies in the bi-phasic outcome of the effect of nicotine. Since there exists an inverted "U" curve relationship between arousal level and performance, the same stimulant property of nicotine can produce an arousing or depressing effect on performance depending on the point on the curve at which the smoker is positioned prior to commencing smoking. In addi- tion, evidence exists that nicotine has a potentially more complex central stimulant/depressant effect. Recent studies have shown that smokers placed in extreme conditions of relaxation or stress demonstrate an ability to use their smoking to adjust their personal level of arousal to cope with the situation. A corollary is that a smoker should be able to perform better on tasks undertaken in stressful or boring situations. An increasing literature provides evidence that this is so, smokers gaining measurable increments particularly in boring {low arousal) situations requiring sustained attention, reaction time performance, or vigilance. The role of smoking has received attention in GR&DC studies of group interaction in problem solving situations, where groups of smokers show a tendency to apportion more of their time to problem oriented activity as opposed to behaviours with less task relevance, and males appear to derive a social support from smoking in the presence of females. Evidence for the idea that smoking plays a socially funEtional role is also being investigated on behalf of GR&DC by Professor A. Gale who is developing a model of smoking which seeks to -iv- O 19$4"British American To,~ar..cc~ Co. X~z:lo Tl~s report m~st nNx be copi~:l or sbow~ to unlu~oris~ I~rsons. BATCo document for Legal Services • Health Canada 19 May 1999

m bring together hitherto disparate attempts to explain smoking in terms of (a) behaviour and performance, and (b) social effectiveness and well being. This model is based on the observed strong association between averting of eye gaze and cigarette lighting/puffing gestures. Eye gaze averting has always been associated with momentary social withdrawal or 'coping'. Gale has demonstrated that averting eye gaze is, in brain activity (EEG) terms, de-arousing in its effect. Therefore, the central hypothesis of the model is that the cigarette may offer the smoker a mechanism of social coping which is particularly advantageous relative to the non-smoker, in the sense that the same factor which is operating at the social level as a means of withdrawal/ coping may be, in the same act (lighting or puffing) provid- ing the nicotine which will sustain internal physiological arousal. At this early stage of the research Gale has been able to demonstrate regularities of observational measures of tapping and puffing gestures during problem solving which suggest a clear 'priming' effect immediately prior to active solving during which puffing behaviour is intensive, following by a period of quiescence. On the same 'functional value' theme, the view has developed that smoking may be considered as a coping behaviour which intercedes between stressful life events and their predictable outcome, depression. Recent GR&DC research' indicates that measures of self-reported behaviour change in response to life stress, and within the perceived effectiveness of such behaviours, smoking is amongst the most highly ranked coping strategies; perceptibly much more effective than, for example, tranquillisers, sleeping tablets, alcohol or professional help. In summary, the emerging psychological perspective on smoking makes the case for viewing it as a behavioural tool in everyday life, a means of tuning life skills such as problem solving, arousal/mood state control, social skills and stress manage- ment. GL~ C C 1984 Brici,h American Tobacco Co. LJ.d. This report must not Ise copied or shown to un~u6horised persons. BATCo document for Legal Services • Health Canada 19 May 1999

KEY WORDS Smoking Functional Value Review Task Performance Social Skills Interpersonal Relationships Attention Vigilance- Memory .Learning Personality Anxiety Coping Depression ~ression Nonverbal Behaviour Eye Gaze Pharmacology Nicotine Pharmacology Addiction Nicotine Nicotinic Receptors Arousal Deprivation Nicotine Chewing Gum Alpha EEG Continent Negative Variation -vi- c~ f,,.) c~ L~ 0 O [9S4 BriLish A.mer~zn Tc, bacco Co. Lr,~L "["his report must hoe ~ copied or shown to tsna~horised persons. BATCo document for Legal Services • Health Canada 19 May 1999

i ii III II -!- INTRODUCTION Modern science represents the way people attempt to explain complex phenomena in the natural world. Because science is conducted by people, there is inevitably a distinction to be drawn between the systematic and objective process of scientific investigation, and the often pejorative and emotive use to which scientific information is put. Since this report puts the case for a more comprehensive and balanced perspective on the behaviour of smoking, the distinction between scientific evidence and use of scientific information will be unobscured throughout. Science, as a dominant system of explanation, is a relatively recent offspring of post 17th century thought. As such it has developed from using fragmented models composed of collections of different perspectives on a given phenomenon, to more holistic approaches which suggest that science must study whole phenomena since any whole is generally ~ore than the sum of its parts. This approach has emerged largely from biologists' models of homoeostasis, concepts of engineering cybernetics, and the 'Gestalt' school of psychology. It has become known as Systems theory. Systems theory, as applied to behaviour (e.g. Miller 1978), attempts to integrate different levels of scientific explanation and apply a co~on descriptive language across them. thus, the human being is seen as: • a biological system • a behaving system • an experiential system • a purposive system • an actor within social systems C~ G', c'~ C,3 O ]9~4 Bn6sh Am~ric~*n Tubacco Co. L~d. Thi~; tcpun mucr ,'~ be ¢opi=d or sh~,wn ¢o ur, au(hor;~¢d r~:~ons. BATCo document for Legal Services • Health Canada 19 May 1999

O0 ~> 0 0 0.. 0 C) (O -,,h 0 r-' (I) up D) Or) m. C") U~ "1- (I) m m ::3" 0 :3 Q. m (,0 m ,.< (.0 CO (4:) t i t . Systems themselves are seen as having Sevecsl propertieS: they 4re heir•rchtcally organised they ere made up of units with individual *ttrq~utes there Is communication and feedb•ck both vithfn and between systms i • they he~e 'er~r~e~t' properties, %e• nO lndt~idut| component, acting alone, can mtatc the effects of ¢ormblned components • they operate within other syst~s and ~y be seen to be part of multtple level structures (e.g. cetl~ier, orgen, organism, group, orgents•tlon, society .i.) It follows that •dequate descriptions and explanations •[ one or two levels ere inadequate and •re likely to fetl to s~nple relllty in 4 representative fashion• The notion Of emergence implies that o~ly~en colblned with its essocllted syStemS wlll the functi~a| significance of i p4rtlcular I~hinismbe revelled, i |n studylng human beh~vlour ~ ar~ faced~th pro~lems of Inte2reting several levels of explanltt~n: physlolO~LV, behevtourp subjective ex~rie~e, and SOcial Inter•orion. We require, In additton to general la~, I fram~ork fop explefntng Individual variations. [xplenattons of why people do the things they do tend to be biased to~erd part|culer do~ns of explenatton, end exp|anetlons of mOklng ere no exception. In PsychologJ' aiding, for example, the ~ lode1 (elg. Russell, 1976) emphaslses smoking aS 4 provider Of positive rc~ard, negative reinforcemont through anxiety Peductton, and association with other sources of positive feeling. Thl 1 -3- addiction model focusses on pharmlcologlcal effects Ind the need tO ~afntatn ntcottne levels in the b~oodstres~ ~e.y. $chachter, ]9?8). The attitude-behavtour models e~phasise positive and negative attitudes, 'cognitive dissonance' (l~rcelved gap between continuance of a behavtl~Jr and the perception that it is not good for you) and 'Sub3ect|¥e expec¢ed ut(]ity' (estfma¢ed value of the behaviour to you), (e.g. Hausner and p|att. |971). ~l+odel$ focus on Ind|v~du•l/constitutionil differences tn 4rOuSe| level and differential use of $~king as both S stimulant lad a depressant (e.g. [ysenck, 1960). ~klng acts end their role In conversation and discourse have •]so been studied in soci41 contexts ~e.~. C]ark, ]978)° S~oklng behavfour Itself iS se[ within • htgh|y complex system of inter-related factor~ ~hich 9o beyond the s¢~ of Psycholoay into Phan~acologic•l, Political/Legal, C~merclel, Medici; and Sociological factors (Figure 1). It can also been seen to be related to an lnti~atecesh of other 'habits~ (Flgu~2), a habit being a behavlour governed by e learned disposition to act in a certatn way, the ~endency having been acquired through frequent repetition of the act. Historically, the explanation of smoking behlvlou~ has developed through two major domains of scientific thought, the ep~demtologlcal and the pharmacological, The eptdemtologlcal wive Of scientific activity followed fr~ the publlcat|on of the U.S. Surgeon General's report on ~Ing and Health (t964) tnd, is • frem<~work of explanitidn. focusses on the effects of a co~nent of the cigirette ('tar') on a c~ponent of the h~n being {the bndy) and uses scientific information predominantly tn the arena of puPportQd health risk. In contrast the sllghtly n~re recent phar~acological frame of reference, also taking a p•rtla] o~ fragn~rlted standpoint+ P,o oN co O~ CO'~

m M o o 0 0 H -I .-h 0 "I r- ~Q O~ J. 0 -1- W m I"4" :3" 0 Q. CD CO I | b . has focussed on the effects of o component of the ctgar;tto (nicotine) on a component of the human betn9 (the brain) and has sought to use scientific information predominantly n the lrel Of purported addiction. The position of this piper Is that a systeins based psyc~olooy 4pproach would suggest that these earlier frame.dorks of| f explanation represent unbalanced perspectives on SmOking behiviour to the extent to which they fail to consider ~he / whol~eperson (In experiential, SOCIal, end behavtoural serll$ aS well 4$ physiologically) interacting with thereto qtgarette (sensortally, and in imagery terms, as .e|! is chemically) - (Figure 3). i A systems psychology perspective would suggest that to . adequately charlcterise the phenomena of s~oking we must exp|atn the way that s~oking achieves functional value in everyday life. it implies that the prevalence and tenacity of s~king behaviour is largely a reflected sckn~ledgejqent of that functional value, and tt implies that in this c~tlxt "functionel" refers tO evidence that smnoking contributes tO huNn "life skills'. Throughout this ~eport. the term =life skills" ~ili be taken to refer to huNnbehayiours contributing tO personal ~ffor~nce and/or we11-being, for examole, social skills, problem solving, arousal level N intenance, stress coping and spe¢t fit perf0r~nce factors, e.g. reaction tl~e, JeRr~ry, v|gtlence, The theme of the report is therefore: i |. mdels of explanatlon of s~klng behavlour have been insufficiently comprehensive, tending to use partial perspectives on the pheno~na which lend the~elve; to partial use of SCientific Infor~tSon~ adopting a syste~ approach to explaining smoking behavic~r simply Imolies opening the scope Of scientific inquiry to a less fragmented perspective which acknowledges that only when combiAed wlth Its associated syst~ will the functional significance Of a particular ~l~chantsm or behaviour (e.g. smoking) be revealed, A useful analog), may be made with the sparking plug of I motor Car. A phy;icl$t may tell a great deal about the potential discharge properties of t~e electrodes, e ~ta|lurglst • ight analyse its metal content in detail, eO electronic englneer~y dete~Ine the |nsulatlng properties of the ceramic core, h~ever~ It is only *hen the operation of the sparking plug is considered ~ithin the system conte~t (in this case a car system) that its functlonai significance will be revealed, the f~nctlonll slgnificonce of smoking in everydsy llfe may be ~nifest ~s s contrlbutlon to the Indlvldua1's dep1Oy~nt ~f "life skills', These skills represent human p~rforrnance flctors contributing to personal effectiveness and ~e11-be~ng and would cover a wlde rsnge of typically human hehavlours, e.9. stress coping, SOClal skills, prob1~m So)ring, management of personal arousal leve| etc., 4. to ~nd~rstand Smoking, just aS any other behavlour, It Is necessary to con$1der it as a process e~bedded ~Ithin everyday ilfe. ~Ith~n such a vle~vpolnt, smoking is seen is a personal tool used by the Indlvlduai s~ker to refine his adaptive stanc~ to the world. This paper elaborates s syste~ approach to the explanation of smoking behavlour, dlscusslng evldence$ for the functlonal slgnlflcance of S~Okin~ in everyday llfe ~nd *~temptlng to bring partS41 perspectives on the phenon~n8 Into i llore Interrelated ~nd balanced framework of thought,