Persistence and problem-solving skills in young male alcoholics

This study compares the level of persistence between 31 inpatient alcoholic males and 31 abstinent or light social drinking males matched on age, education, socioeconomic status and estimated premorbid IQ. An unsolvable anagram and diagram were selected as measures of persistence. Results indicated that alcoholics persisted for significantly shorter periods of time on both measures than their matched controls. However, there were no significant group differences on two measures from the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (set shifting and set maintenance). Persistence measures from the unsolvable tasks were not significantly correlated with the set maintenance score of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Possible explanations are considered for these findings of persistence deficits without problem-solving impairments among young alcoholics.