Ecological relevance of memory tests and the prediction of relapse in alcoholics

In an inpatient alcoholism rehabilitation program, 56 men were administered two 10-min memory tests: the Product Recall Test (PRT), designed to assess memory for familiar stimuli (assumed to be relatively high in ecological relevance), and the Memory-for-Designs Test (MFD), a test of memory for novel patterns of stimuli (assumed to be relatively low in ecological relevance). Approximately 74% of subjects who recalled less than or equal to half the items of the PRT relapsed at 3 months compared to only 33% of the subjects who recalled more than half the items. Performance on the MFD was not related to relapse rate. PRT performance was almost as predictive of relapse at 3 months as aftercare attendance, and combining both of these variables further improved predictability. The results suggest that the familiarity of the stimuli employed in memory tests may be important in tapping cognitive deficits of alcoholics that place these subjects at increased risk for relapse. The implication of these findings for the time-effective identification of early relapsers from alcoholism treatment programs are discussed.