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Marijuana effects on associative processes

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Abstract

Acute marijuana effects on associative processes involved in long-term memory retrieval were studied. Results were partially consistent with expectations based on previous subjective reports that marijuana promotes more uncommon associations. Marijuana altered responses when people gave as many examples of a specified category (e.g., CLOTHING) as they could for 2 min, and when they gave an example of a specified category beginning with a specified letter (e.g., WEAPON — G). Reaction time in the latter task and in prior studies was not altered in the expected manner, a finding problematic for some theoretic interpretations of marijuana's effects on associative processes.

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Author notes

  1. J. R. Wittenborn

    Present address: Interdisciplinary Research Center, Rutgers University, College Avenue Campus, 08903, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Robert I. Block & J. R. Wittenborn

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  1. Robert I. Block
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  2. J. R. Wittenborn
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Block, R.I., Wittenborn, J.R. Marijuana effects on associative processes. Psychopharmacology 85, 426–430 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429658

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00429658

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