Influences of Alcohol upon Performance and Performance Awareness

The effects of alcohol and performance feedback on reaction time, judgments of response speed, and awareness of performance were examined with 15 male subjects. It was suggested that the dose of alcohol which impaired performance would also reduce the awareness of the impairment. In response to extrafoveal visual signals, a series of RTs and response-speed judgments were recorded over three experimental sessions which differed in target blood alcohol concentration, i.e., placebo, .05, .10. The spurious performance feedback presented to five subjects in each of three groups represented either fast, average, or slow RTs. Data support the hypothesis that alcohol impairs both performance and performance awareness. In all groups alcohol significantly increased RTs and significantly impaired the accuracy of response speed judgments. The measures of awareness, i.e., correlations between RTs and response speed judgments, showed that alcohol and spurious feedback significantly impaired performance awareness.

Download Full-text

A Driving Simulator Study of the Performance Effects of Low Blood Alcohol Concentration

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193129604001817 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 40 (18) ◽

pp. 943-946 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

R. Wade Allen ◽

Zareh Parseghian ◽

Anthony C. Stein

Keyword(s):

Divided Attention ◽

Driving Simulator ◽

Blood Alcohol Concentration ◽

Large Body ◽

Alcohol Concentration ◽

Blood Alcohol ◽

Performance Effects ◽

Driving Task ◽

Simulator Study ◽

And Performance

There is a large body of research that documents the impairing effect of alcohol on driving behavior and performance. Some of the most significant alcohol influence seems to occur in divided attention situations when the driver must simultaneously attend to several aspects of the driving task. This paper describes a driving simulator study of the effect of a low alcohol dose, .055 BAC (blood alcohol concentration %/wt), on divided attention performance. The simulation was mechanized on a PC and presented visual and auditory feedback in a truck cab surround. Subjects were required to control speed and steering on a rural two lane road while attending to a peripheral secondary task. The subject population was composed of 33 heavy equipment operators who were tested during both placebo and drinking sessions. Multivariate Analysis of Variance showed a significant and practical alcohol effect on a range of variables in the divided attention driving task.

Download Full-text

Influences of Alcohol, Interpersonal Feedback, and Drinking Experience upon Performance and Judgment

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1979.48.1.95 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 95-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Robert A. Lubin

Keyword(s):

Alcoholic Beverage ◽

Blood Alcohol Concentration ◽

Alcohol Concentration ◽

Blood Alcohol ◽

Social Feedback ◽

Impaired Performance ◽

Alcohol Impairment ◽

Psychomotor Tasks ◽

Interpersonal Feedback

The study examined influences of alcohol, social feedback, and drinking experience upon performance, performance awareness, and awareness of intoxication. 24 subjects were selected on the basis of drinking experience. All subjects consumed either a placebo or an alcoholic beverage, i.e., target blood-alcohol concentration of .05% or .10%, prior to each of three experimental sessions. Within groups, subjects were paired and completed a series of cognitive and psychomotor tasks. During each session subjects evaluated both their own and their partner's performance and degree of intoxication. A series of correlations between performance or measures of blood-alcohol concentration and judgments determined relative awareness. Alcohol significantly impaired performance, with inexperienced drinkers being significantly more impaired than experienced drinkers. All groups over-estimated their blood-alcohol concentration, but inexperienced drinkers evaluated themselves as highly intoxicated. Subjects generally under-estimated alcohol impairment and correlations showed awareness decreased as blood-alcohol concentration increased. The implications of the research to drinking/driving problems were discussed.

Download Full-text

Spatial Learning of Visual ‘Nonsense Figures’ during Experimental Ethanol Intoxication

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1989.68.2.599 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 68 (2) ◽

pp. 599-606 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Michael J. Cohen ◽

Steven L. Schandler ◽

David L. McArthur

Keyword(s):

Performance Measures ◽

Paired Associate ◽

Blood Alcohol Concentration ◽

Learning Task ◽

Alcohol Concentration ◽

Blood Alcohol ◽

Ethanol Intoxication ◽

Placebo Condition ◽

Visuospatial Learning ◽

And Performance

The interaction of alcohol and visuospatial learning was evaluated during two experimental sessions. During one session, participants were experimentally intoxicated to obtain a blood alcohol concentration of at least 0.10%. During another session, a nonalcohol placebo was administered. The learning task consisted of a paired-associate paradigm requiring participants to learn the distinct spatial positions of 6 visually presented “nonsense shapes.” The visuospatial learning of participants in the placebo condition was generally superior to their learning while intoxicated. However, intercorrelations of performance measures indicated that the relation between alcohol ingestion and performance differences across conditions was not linear.

Download Full-text

Multiattribute Modeling Analysis of the Effects of a Low Blood Alcohol Level on Pilot Performance

Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ◽

10.1177/001872088803000304 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 293-304 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Leonard E. Ross ◽

James C. Mundt

Keyword(s):

Task Analysis ◽

Blood Alcohol Concentration ◽

Alcohol Concentration ◽

Flight Performance ◽

Blood Alcohol ◽

Pilot Performance ◽

Modeling Analysis ◽

Flight Instructors ◽

Alcohol Effects ◽

And Performance

Multiattribute modeling procedures were used to evaluate the flight performance of pilots who completed a simulator flight under 0 and 0.04% blood alcohol concentration (BAC) conditions. The flight involved VOR tracking, vectoring, traffic avoidance, and descent. Flight instructors' judgments were used to develop a multiattribute model of flight performance that permitted evaluation of the effects of alcohol on overall flight performance, as well as on task segment and performance aspect components of the flight. Alcohol was found to have a significant deleterious effect on overall pilot performance and on some of the task segments. The multiattribute modeling approach was found to be useful in providing a task analysis function that permitted alcohol effects to be evaluated in a manner that reflected pilot concentration on some aspects of the flight task at the expense of others.

Download Full-text

Blood Alcohol Concentration and Reaction Time

Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol ◽

10.15288/qjsa.1970.31.823 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 31 (4) ◽

pp. 823-831 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

John R. Young

Keyword(s):

Reaction Time ◽

Blood Alcohol Concentration ◽

Alcohol Concentration ◽

Blood Alcohol

Download Full-text

Vive la Difference! The Effects of Natural and Conventional Wines on Blood Alcohol Concentrations: A Randomized, Triple-Blind, Controlled Study

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu11050986 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 986

Author(s):

Federico Francesco Ferrero ◽

Maurizio Fadda ◽

Luca De Carli ◽

Marco Barbetta ◽

Rajandrea Sethi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Blood Alcohol Concentration ◽

Alcohol Concentration ◽

Alcoholic Beverages ◽

Metabolic Effects ◽

Controlled Study ◽

Blood Alcohol ◽

Contributing Factors ◽

Extract Content ◽

Kinetics Of ◽

Male Subjects

Different alcoholic beverages can have different effects on blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and neurotoxicity, even when equalized for alcohol content by volume. Anecdotal evidence suggested that natural wine is metabolized differently from conventional wines. This triple-blind study compared the BAC of 55 healthy male subjects after consuming the equivalent of 2 units of alcohol of a natural or conventional wine over 3 min in two separate sessions, one week apart. BAC was measured using a professional breathalyzer every 20 min after consumption for 2 h. The BAC curves in response to the two wines diverged significantly at twenty minutes (interval T20) and forty minutes (interval T40), and also at their maximum concentrations (peaks), with the natural wine inducing a lower BAC than the conventional wine [T20 = 0.40 versus 0.46 (p < 0.0002); T40 = 0.49 versus 0.53 (p < 0.0015); peak = 0.52 versus 0.56 (p < 0.0002)]. These differences are likely related to the development of different amino acids and antioxidants in the two wines during their production. This may in turn affect the kinetics of alcohol absorption and metabolism. Other contributing factors could include pesticide residues, differences in dry extract content, and the use of indigenous or selected yeasts. The study shows that with the same quantity and conditions of intake, natural wine has lower pharmacokinetic and metabolic effects than conventional wine, which can be assumed due to the different agronomic and oenological practices with which they are produced. It can therefore be hypothesized that the consumption of natural wine may have a different impact on human health from that of conventional wine.

Download Full-text

Effects of Alcohol and Error Criticality on Alphanumeric Target Acquisition

Proceedings of the Human Factors Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193128302700609 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 27 (6) ◽

pp. 468-471 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

William E. Barbre ◽

Dennis L. Price

Keyword(s):

Blood Alcohol Concentration ◽

Search Time ◽

Monetary Incentive ◽

Alcohol Concentration ◽

Blood Alcohol ◽

Target Presence ◽

Search Trial ◽

Four Levels ◽

Target Locations ◽

Male Subjects

Eight male subjects searched for target alphanumeric characters using a touch-entry equipped CRT under four levels of blood alcohol concentration (BAC), 0.0, 0.05, 0.07, and 0.09 percent. Participants visually searched randomly generated 108-character arrays for imbedded target characters, touching the CRT surface at target locations when located. Half of the search trials used arrays containing no target, providing the apportunity for “giving-up” any search trial at the discretion of the participant. A monetary incentive/penalty system was used to define low- and high-criticality search trials. Search time, touch accuracy, the number of trials completed, the percent of “give-ups”, and hand travel time were all significantly degraded by the alcohol dosages used. An alcohol-criticality interaction was observed for percent give-ups, and an alcohol-target presence interaction was significant for mean search times.

Download Full-text

The Importance of Alcohol Testing by Gas Chromatography vs the Cordebard Classical Method Modified in the Medico Legal Investigation

Revista de Chimie ◽

10.37358/rc.18.9.6543 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 69 (9) ◽

pp. 2407-2410

Author(s):

Dan Perju Dumbrava ◽

Carmen Corina Radu ◽

Sofia David ◽

Tatiana Iov ◽

Catalin Jan Iov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gas Chromatography ◽

Chromatographic Method ◽

Classical Method ◽

Blood Alcohol Concentration ◽

Alcohol Concentration ◽

Blood Alcohol ◽

Technical Details ◽

Gas Chromatographic Method ◽

Alcohol Testing ◽

Living Person

Considering the growing number of requests from the criminal investigations authorities addressed to the institutions of legal medicine, testing of blood alcohol concentration both in the living person and in the corpse, we believe that a presentation of the two methods which are used in our country, is a topic of interest at present. The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with the technical details on how blodd alcohol concentration is realised by means of the gas chromatographic method and the classical one, (Cordebard modified by D. Banciu and I. Droc) respectively. Another purpose of this article is to also show, in a comparative way, the elements that make the gas chromatographic method superior to the former one.

Download Full-text

4. Are a Blood Alcohol Concentration of 256mg/dl and Minimal Signs of Impairment Reliable Indications of Alcohol Dependence?

Medicine Science and the Law ◽

10.1177/002580249403400316 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 265-270 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

A W Jones

Keyword(s):

Expert Witness ◽

Blood Alcohol Concentration ◽

Drunk Driving ◽

Alcohol Concentration ◽

Driving Under The Influence ◽

Blood Alcohol ◽

Lower Court ◽

Dna Profile ◽

Court Of Appeals ◽

Driving Scenario

This article describes a drink-driving scenario where a woman was apprehended for driving under the influence (DUI) with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 256mg/dl1 The correctness of this result was vigorously challenged by a medical expert witness for the defence, who was actually a specialist in alcohol diseases. Despite reanalysis to confirm the BAC as well as a DNA profile to prove the identity of the blood specimen, the woman was acquitted of the charge of drunk driving by the lower court. However, she was subsequently found guilty in the High Court of Appeals with a unanimous decision and sentenced to four weeks imprisonment. This case report illustrates some of the problems surrounding the use of expert medical evidence by the defence to challenge the validity of the prosecution evidence based solely on a suspect's BAC. In situations such as these, an expert witness should be called by the prosecution to clarify and, if necessary, rebut medical and/or scientific opinions that might mislead the court and influence the outcome of the trial.

Download Full-text