Effects of Alcohol on Complex Performance

Abstract

Nine subjects were tested on a battery of tasks involving monitoring, two-dimensional compensatory tracking, and mental arithmetic at three levels of work load. The subjects ingested 2.5 ml of 100-proof vodka per kilogram of body weight two hours before testing; mean blood alcohol at the beginning of testing was approximately 100 mg%. Significant alcohol effects were found for two of the monitoring tasks and for three of the four measures of tracking. There was a significant interaction between work load and alcohol in the case of one tracking measure.