The role of instructional set on alcoholic performance.
This study was conducted to determine whether alcoholic and control subjects respond differently to manipulations that either enhance personal involvement (PI) or reduce negative affect (R, relaxation) on tests of neuropsychological function. In Phase 1, 48 male alcoholics and 36 male control subjects completed neuropsychological tasks under standard instructional sets. In Phase 2, subjects completed equivalent forms of these tests under one of three randomly assigned conditions; the PI condition in which subjects were encouraged to identify specific ways of improving their performance, the R condition in which subjects participated in a short relaxation exercise designed to reduce anxiety, or a No Treatment (NT) condition in which no attempt to manipulate the subjects' involvement or affect was made. Alcoholics were inferior to controls in both Phase 1 and Phase 2 [Fs (1,82) > 5.03, ps < 0.03]. The experimental manipulation differentially affected measures of negative affect and effort in the predicted direction. There were no group x condition interactions. Alcoholic and control subjects responded comparably to the experimental manipulations. This investigation, in combination with others using related manipulations, reinforces the hypothesis that alcohol-related cognitives dysfunction reflects an underlying deficit in brain states.
Nixon
S J
SJ
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City 73104.
Errico
A L
AL
Parsons
O A
OA
Leber
W R
WR
Kelley
C J
CJ
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000187:drug effects; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects; D012718:Set, Psychology; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation
D000431:Ethanol