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Alcohol-Influenced Changes in Activation Peaking during Paired-Associate Verbal Learning
Steven L. Schandler, Michael J. Cohen, Bruce D. Naliboff
Activation response patterning, termed activation peaking, was examined to understand the effects of alcohol intoxication on complex information processing. A total of 23 men social drinkers were divided into alcohol and placebo groups: N s = 10 and 13, respectively. The alcohol group was administered enough alcohol to obtain blood alcohol levels of at least 10 mg\/dl. Heart rate and skin conductance was measured before and during paired-associate learning. Learning consisted of a random presentation of eight letter-word pairs followed by the presentation of letters only, with subjects required to remember the associated word. Results showed a clear pattern of peripheral activation related to verbal learning behavior in the alcohol group, with no differences between the groups in verbal learning performance.
