Several short auditory messages with different levels of distortion were presented to volunteer subjects under the influence of no, small, medium and large dosages of alcohol. Accuracy of perception as measured by the number of correct words and sentences was progressively worse in subjects with higher BAC levels. Thus, amount of alcohol produced corresponding reduction in the comprehension of distorted auditory stimuli. This does not support popular suggestions that use of drugs enhances perception and cognitive function. It is possible that substances that enhance personal significance of stimuli worsen social communication about these stimuli.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
GoodwinD.OthmerE.HalikasJ.FreemonF., Loss of Short-Term Memory as a Predictor of the Alcoholic “Blackout,”Nature, 227, pp. 201–202, 1970.
2.
RybackR. S., The Continuum and Specificity of the Effect of Alcohol on Memory: A Review, Quarterly Journal of the Study of Alcohol, 32, pp. 995–1016, 1971.
3.
TamerinJ.WeinerS.PoppenR.SteinglassP.MendlesonJ., Alcohol and Memory: Amnesia and Short-Term Memory Function during Experimentally Induced Intoxication, American Journal of Psychiatry, 127, pp. 1659–1664, 1971.
4.
GorensteinE. A., Cognitive-Perceptual Deficit in an Alcoholism Spectrum Disorder, Journal of the Study of Alcohol, 48:4, pp. 310–318, 1987.
5.
TallandG. A., Alcoholism and Reaction Time, Quarterly Journal of the Study of Alcohol, 24, pp. 610–621, 1963.
6.
MoskowitzH., The Effect of Alcohol upon Information Processing in the Driving, Paper presented at OECD International Symposium on Countermeasures to Driver Behavior under the Influence of Alcohol and Other Drugs, London, September 22–23, 1971.
7.
MoskowitzH., The Effects of Alcohol on Performance in a Driving Simulator of Alcoholics and Social Drinkers, Unpublished manuscript, Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of California, Los Angeles, California, 1971.
8.
CarpenterJ. A., Effects of Alcohol on Some Psychological Processes, Quarterly Journal of the Study of Alcohol, 23, pp. 274–314, 1962.
9.
ForneyR. B.HargerR. N., The Alcohols, in Drill's Pharmacology in Medicine, (2nd Edition), DiPalmaJ. (ed.), McGraw-Hill, New York, 1965.
10.
ButtersN.CermackL. S.MontgomeryK.AdinolfiA., Some Comparisons of the Memory and Visuoperceptive Deficits of Chronic Alcoholics and Patients with Korsakoff's Disease, Alcohol Clinical Experiment Research, 1, pp. 73–80, 1977.
11.
GlosserG.ButtersN.SamuelsA., Failures in Information Processing in Patients with Korsakoff's Syndrome, Neuropsychologia, 14, pp. 327–334, 1976.
12.
KuusinenJ.NystedtL., The Influence of Alcohol on Cognitive Conflict, Psychopharmacology, 87:3, pp. 303–307, 1985.
13.
United States, Department of Transportation: 1968 Alcohol and Highway Safety Report, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1968.
14.
GreenbergL. A., The Pharmacology of Alcohol and Its Relationship to Drinking and Driving, Quarterly Journal of the Study of Alcohol, 4, pp. 252–266, 1968.
15.
JonesB.ParsonsO. A., Specific vs. Generalized Deficit of Abstracting Ability in Chronic Alcoholics, Archives of General Psychiatry, 26, pp. 380–384, 1972.
16.
KleinknechtR. A.GoldsteinS. G., Neuropsychological Deficits Associated with Alcoholism, Quarterly Journal of the Study of Alcohol, 33, pp. 999–1019, 1972.
17.
CarpenterJ. A., Contributions from Psychology to the Study of Drinking and Driving, Quarterly Journal of the Study of Alcohol, Suppl No. 4, pp. 234–251, 1968.
18.
HuxleyA., The Doors of Perception, Harper, New York, 1954.
19.
HuxleyA., Heaven and Hell, Chatto and Windsor, London, 1956.
20.
CastenadaC., The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1968.
21.
WattsA., The Joyous Cosmology: Adventures in the Chemistry of Consciousness, Pantheon, New York, 1972.
22.
ParsonsO. A., Cognitive Functioning in Sober Social Drinkers: A Review and Critique, Journal of the Study of Alcohol, 47:2, pp. 101–114, 1986.
23.
LucierA., I am Sitting in a Room, Source, 7, p. 60 (Composer/Performer edition, Sacramento, California), 1970.
24.
GambleN. J., The Effect of Alcohol and Amphetamines upon Bender-Gestalt Reproductions, Unpublished Master's Thesis, University of Alberta, 1964.
