Neuropsychological efficiency measures in male and female alcoholics.
The role of time in performance on many neuropsychological tests has been relatively neglected in the literature to date. Neuropsychological functioning in 90 male and female alcoholics and 65 peer controls was examined using both accuracy and time measures for four basic types of neuropsychological functioning: verbal skills, learning and memory, problem-solving and abstracting, and perceptual-motor skills. Alcoholics had significantly lower efficiency ratios (accuracy/time) than controls in each of the four areas, and had significantly lower overall accuracy and time scores. There were no significant Group x Gender interactions for efficiency, speed or accuracy scores, indicating that male and female alcoholics have similar deficits as a result of chronic alcoholism. The study is the first to apply systematically an empirical measure of neuropsychological efficiency to different areas of cognitive function; the results have implications for neuropsychological testing procedures.
Glenn
S W
SW
Center for Alcohol and Drug Related Studies, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City 73104.
Parsons
O A
OA
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000187:drug effects; D011594:Psychometrics; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000187:drug effects; D014825:Vocabulary
D000431:Ethanol