Westminster College to Host Presentation Examining Cigarette Cravings Nov. 8

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - The Westminster College Department of Psychology will host Dr. Michael Sayette for a presentation on cigarette cravings Thursday, Nov. 8, at 12:40 p.m. in the Phillips Lecture Hall in the Hoyt Science Building.  The event is free to the public.

Sayette is a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. Sayette's presentation, "Self-Regulation Failure and Smoking: A Multimodal Analysis of Cigarette Cravings," will review research and studies indicating how robust manipulations of cigarette cravings alter the way that we process information pertaining to smoking a cigarette. He will also discuss diverse research examining "positive" anticipatory cravings, and consider data suggesting that smokers when in a neutral state have little insight into the power of their future craving states.

Sayette has been a member of several professional society committees, including the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.  He has received 14 grants during his career including seven that dealt specifically with cigarette cravings/addiction. In addition to these areas Sayette's research interests include psychological theories of alcohol use and abuse; and cognitive, affective, and social processes in addiction, alcohol and stress.

Sayette earned his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, and master's and Ph.D. from Rutgers University.  He has been employed at the University of Pittsburgh since 1991.

Contact Dr. Sherri Pataki, associate professor of psychology, at (724) 946-7361 or email for more information.

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