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Alcohol, reaction time and memory: a meta-analysis

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Maylor, Elizabeth A. and Rabbitt, Patrick. (1993) Alcohol, reaction time and memory: a meta-analysis. British Journal of Psychology, Vol.84 (No.3). pp. 301-317. ISSN 0007-1269

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Abstract

Moderate doses of alcohol impair performance on a variety of information processing tasks. Two separate meta-analyses were conducted on the results of (1) reaction time studies, and (2) recognition memory studies, representing 25 and 16 different task conditions, respectively. In both cases, performance with alcohol (either 0.8 or 1.0 ml/kg body weight) was plotted as a function of performance with no alcohol. For reaction time, a linear fit accounted for 99.7 per cent of the variance. The same function applied not only to the mean but to the distribution of reaction times from the 5th to the 95th percentiles. For recognition memory, a linear fit accounted for 96.2 per cent of the variance in accuracy (expressed as the logarithm of proportion correct). Thus alcohol appears to have a general linear effect on information processing, rather than specific effects on a subset of stages. It is concluded that the results are consistent with a reduced processing resources hypothesis for the impairment with alcohol.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Faculty of Science > Psychology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Alcohol -- Physiological effect, Reaction time -- Effect of drugs on, Drinking of alcoholic beverages, Memory -- Effect of drugs on , Human information processing -- Effect of drugs on , Cognition -- Testing
Journal or Publication Title: British Journal of Psychology
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
ISSN: 0007-1269
Official Date: August 1993
Dates:
DateEvent
August 1993Published
Volume: Vol.84
Number: No.3
Page Range: pp. 301-317
Identification Number: 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1993.tb02485.x
Status: Peer Reviewed
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC), Medical Research Council (Great Britain) (MRC)
Grant number: PG8612638 (MRC), (ESRC)
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URI: http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/35810

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