Environmental dependence of behavioral control mechanisms: effects of alcohol and information processing demands

Studies show that alcohol increases a drinker's reliance on the environmental context for the maintenance of inhibitory and activational responding. The author of the present study examined additive effects of alcohol and cognitive load on the cue dependency of inhibitory and activational mechanisms of control. Adults received 0.0 g/kg, 0.45 g/kg, and 0.65 g/kg alcohol and performed a cued go/no-go task that presented simple and complex go and no-go stimuli. Results showed that cue dependency of response inhibition increased as a function of dose, and this effect was similar across low and high cognitive load conditions. These findings are consistent with a capacity limitation account of alcohol impairment that could involve central or output stages of information processing.