Implicit cognitive processes and attention bias toward addictive behaviors: introduction, development and application of addiction stroop test

Introduction: Drug abuse as a universal problem has persuaded numerous theories and researches. Many study methods and tests have been developed to measure explicit and implicit aspects of addictive behaviors. The current article has been planned to review theories and researches which had tried to clarify the uncontrollable nature of addictive behaviors. Moreover, various viewpoints of development of automatic cognitive processes and their classification and evaluation methods have been discussed. Text: The addiction stroop test has been extensively used to measure the implicit cognitions, particularly attention bias toward addictive stimuli. After explaining various aspects of classic stroop test, paper and computerized versions and the way of making them have been discussed, emphasized on computer technology utilization. Based on theoretical perspectives, existing literature and resources, some technical points which are required to be regarded, have been represented. Conclusion: The growing evidence supports the importance of implicit and automatic cognitive processes in make decisions to use substances. Consequently, assessment techniques for automatic cognitions processes such as attention bias have become quite important. There are various techniques evaluating attention bias toward addiction related stimuli. Focus on subtle features of the addiction stroop test will enhance its validity and reliability as a measure of addiction attention bias.