@article{ref1,
title="A diffusion model decomposition of the effects of alcohol on perceptual decision making",
journal="Psychopharmacology",
year="2012",
author="van Ravenzwaaij, Don and Dutilh, Gilles and Wagenmakers, Eric-Jan",
volume="219",
number="4",
pages="1017-1025",
abstract="RATIONALE: Even in elementary cognitive tasks, alcohol consumption results in both cognitive and motor impairments (e.g., Schweizer and Vogel-Sprott, Exp Clin Psychopharmacol 16: 240-250, 2008). OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to quantify the latent psychological processes that underlie the alcohol-induced decrement in observed performance. METHODS: In a double-blind experiment, we administered three different amounts of alcohol to participants on different days: a placebo dose (0 g/l), a moderate dose (0.5 g/l), and a high dose (1 g/l). Following this, participants performed a &quot;moving dots&quot; perceptual discrimination task. We analyzed the data using the drift diffusion model. Model parameters drift rate, boundary separation, and non-decision time allow a decomposition of the alcohol effect in terms of their respective cognitive components, that is, rate of information processing, response caution, and non-decision processes (e.g., stimulus encoding, motor processes). RESULTS: We found that alcohol intoxication causes higher mean RTs and lower response accuracies. The diffusion model decomposition showed that alcohol intoxication caused a decrease in drift rate and an increase in non-decision time. CONCLUSIONS: In a simple perceptual discrimination task, even a moderate dose of alcohol decreased the rate of information processing and negatively affected the non-decision component. However, alcohol consumption left response caution largely intact.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0033-3158",
doi="10.1007/s00213-011-2435-9",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2435-9"
}