IS SHAM SMOKING AN ADEQUATE CONTROL CONDITION FOR THE MOTORIC COMPONENT OF SMOKING

This is a study of the similarities and differences between real and s ham smoking; 15 participants, all of whom had a smoking history of mor e than two years, attended on two occasions within a balanced design, They were instructed to either smoke or sham smoke their own brand of cigarette as normally as possible. Real and sham smoking were highly c orrelated for various measures: frequency of puffs, puff duration, int erpuff interval, puff volume, and puff pressure. This showed that the pattern of smoking was common across the two conditions. At the same t ime, there were differences between the two conditions in the intensit y of smoking, such that sham smoking led to significant increases in p uff duration, volume, frequency, and decreases in the length of interp uff interval. Sham smoking is often used in smoking experimentation as a control for various aspects of smoking. This is the first study to examine the commonalities between real and sham smoking in a detailed and systematic fashion.