A short-term memory distractor test, involving recall of words triads after 0.3, 9 or 18 s of distraction, was given to 10 alcoholics (4 women, experimental group) 24 h after their admission to the hospital in an intoxicated state and again 1 wk and 1 mo. later. The same test was given to a control group of 10 alcoholics (4 women) at the same intervals, but their initial testing occurred after the patients had been hospitalized for 1 mo. Of the patients in each group, 1/2 were under 40 yr old and 1/2 were over age 50. The performance of these 2 groups was compared with that of 8 alcoholic patients with Korsakoff''s psychosis. On the initial testing the older patients in the experimental group performed on a par with the Korsakoff patients and significantly worse (P < .05) than the other alcoholics. The performance of the older experimental patients improved over time, so that by the 1-mo. test their performance was comparable to that of the other alcoholic groups and was significantly better (P < .05) than that of the Korsakoff patients. The hypothesis that alcoholics suffer a temporary impairment of ability to memorize new material might be true only for older alcoholics, possibly because alcohol affects the older brain to a greater extent than it affects the younger brain.