The uncertainties of enhancement: A mixed-methods study on the use of substances for cognitive enhancement and it’s unintended consequences
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The uncertainties of enhancement : A mixed-methods study on the use of substances for cognitive enhancement and it’s unintended consequences. / Petersen, Margit Anne; Enghoff, Oskar; Demant, Jakob Johan.
I: Performance Enhancement & Health, Bind 3-4, 2019, s. 111-120.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The uncertainties of enhancement
T2 - A mixed-methods study on the use of substances for cognitive enhancement and it’s unintended consequences
AU - Petersen, Margit Anne
AU - Enghoff, Oskar
AU - Demant, Jakob Johan
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - AimsThe use of substances for cognitive enhancement has become a relatively well-studied phenomenon in recent years. However, few studies deal with the negative and unintended consequences of such practices. This article uses two data sets to explore and discuss the doubt and negative consequences that affect people using substances in the pursuit of enhancing cognition.MethodsData for the study are drawn from an online discussion forum on substances for enhancement and from ethnographic fieldwork carried out among university students in New York City. Taking a quali-quantitative approach, we combine digital text analytic tools with qualitative analysis and readings.FindingsUsing prescription stimulants and other substances for cognitive enhancement generates considerable uncertainty in terms of unclear effects, varying practices and ambivalent ethics. While the negative effects are not something easily discussed in person, references to them are very common in the online discussion forum.ConclusionsPeople who use substances for enhancement have developed a ‘folk pharmacology’ that seems to play an important role in how they perceive the negative effects. This may make people who engage in these kinds of enhancement practices less able to make informed choices about their use of these substances.
AB - AimsThe use of substances for cognitive enhancement has become a relatively well-studied phenomenon in recent years. However, few studies deal with the negative and unintended consequences of such practices. This article uses two data sets to explore and discuss the doubt and negative consequences that affect people using substances in the pursuit of enhancing cognition.MethodsData for the study are drawn from an online discussion forum on substances for enhancement and from ethnographic fieldwork carried out among university students in New York City. Taking a quali-quantitative approach, we combine digital text analytic tools with qualitative analysis and readings.FindingsUsing prescription stimulants and other substances for cognitive enhancement generates considerable uncertainty in terms of unclear effects, varying practices and ambivalent ethics. While the negative effects are not something easily discussed in person, references to them are very common in the online discussion forum.ConclusionsPeople who use substances for enhancement have developed a ‘folk pharmacology’ that seems to play an important role in how they perceive the negative effects. This may make people who engage in these kinds of enhancement practices less able to make informed choices about their use of these substances.
KW - Faculty of Social Sciences
KW - Cognitive enhancement
KW - Substances
KW - Prescription stimulants
KW - Uncertainty
KW - Quali-quantitative methods
KW - Folk pharmacology
U2 - 10.1016/j.peh.2018.09.001
DO - 10.1016/j.peh.2018.09.001
M3 - Journal article
VL - 3-4
SP - 111
EP - 120
JO - Performance Enhancement & Health
JF - Performance Enhancement & Health
SN - 2211-2669
ER -
ID: 209221579