The interactive effects of alcohol and mood on dual-task performance

The interactive effects of mood induction and alcohol consumption were examined in a combined visual digit detection and tracking task. Although tracking ability was independently sensitive to both time on task and alcohol, no interaction between alcohol and mood was observed. However, correct reaction times on the digit detection task were sensitive to such interactive effects. Those individuals who both consumed alcohol and watched a descriptive film performed worse on this part of the task throughout the session compared to those who watched a humorous film and did not take alcohol. Correlational analyses between performance on the tracking and digit detection tasks do not necessarily support the contention that alcohol may serve to disrupt the operation of a timesharing process.