TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2012//
TI  - A diffusion model decomposition of the effects of alcohol on perceptual decision making
JO  - Psychopharmacology
A1  - van Ravenzwaaij, Don
A1  - Dutilh, Gilles
A1  - Wagenmakers, Eric-Jan
SP  - 1017
EP  - 1025
VL  - 219
IS  - 4
N2  - 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 "moving dots" 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>
LA  - en
SN  - 0033-3158
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-011-2435-9
ID  - ref1
ER  -