title: Effects of acute alcohol consumption on alcohol-related cognitive biases in light and heavy drinkers are task-dependent.
abstract: We investigated (1) the effects of alcohol on cognitive biases for alcohol-related cues, (2) the effects of drinking status on alcohol-related cognitive biases and (3) the similarity of any effects of alcohol across two measures of alcohol cognitive bias. Healthy, heavy and light social alcohol users (n = 72) were examined in a single-blind placebo-controlled design. Participants received 0.00 g/kg, 0.13 g/kg or 0.40 g/kg of alcohol in a between-subjects design and then completed both a modified Stroop task and a visual probe task. Modified Stroop data indicated a main effect of cue type, which was qualified by drinking status, with heavier drinkers slower to respond to alcohol-related cues. Visual probe data, in contrast, indicated a significant interaction effect between validity (valid: alcohol-related, invalid: neutral) and drink condition. Participants receiving a moderate dose of alcohol (0.40 g/kg) were faster to respond to alcohol-related stimuli compared with participants receiving a low dose of alcohol or placebo. These data indicate that the cognitive processes assayed by the visual probe and Stroop tasks may not be mediated by a common underlying mechanism.
authors.affiliation: School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. sally.adams@bristol.ac.uk
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: Alia F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Ataya
authors.forename: Angela S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Attwood
authors.forename: Marcus R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Munafò
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000523:psychology*; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000523:psychology*; D003463:Cues; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000506:poisoning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D057190:Stroop Test; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol