SAGUENAY, Quebec, March 16, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Smokers who attempt to quit smoking can now count on the help of a serious game on Apple. They can download to their iPod, iPad or iPhone the application NICOT 1.0 available on Appstore at a cost of half a pack of cigarettes.
This "App" was created following a study by the clinic GRAP in collaboration with the Canada Research Chair in Clinical Cyberpsychology and the University of Quebec in Outaouais. This clinical study demonstrated the effectiveness of the action to crush cigarettes in virtual reality on the process of smoking cessation.
Once the application NICOT 1.0 is downloaded, the user of iPhone, iPod or iPad crushes cigarettes with a virtual arm in a fictitious environment. This game, by itself, according to studies, gives a success rate of 15% in the process of quitting. Combined with efficiency rates of pharmacological aids and follow-up clinic, the smoker could reach a success rate of more than 50%.
The principle of this approach uses the knowledge of Skinner's operant conditioning. The authors have published the results of their clinical study of 91 subjects in the international journal CyberPsychology and Behavior (vol. 12, no.5, 2009). You can download several documents about the GRAP'S research here.
The designer of this online tool, Dr. Benoit Girard, believes that the availability of such a game on the Web (Apple Appstore) will greatly facilitate access to assistance and mainly for young people 18 to 34 years where the smoking rate remains above 30 %.
NICOT 1.0 is one of the first serious game available on the web and can be an interesting support to professional counselling and smoking cessation products for smokers in their struggle to end this powerful addict.
SOURCE :
BRUNO GIRARD
GRAP
418 542-2030
WWW.GRAP.CA
G.R.A.P@VIDEOTRON.CA
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nicot/id416698100?mt=8
http://www.liebertonline.com/toc/cpb/12/5
HTTP://WWW.GRAP.CA/SITE/FRANCAIS/HTML/NICOT_DOCUMENTS.HTM
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The following pictures are available for download:
| [Image] | GRAP |