Effect of alcohol on rate of forgetting

The effect of alcohol (1 ml per kg body weight) on the rate of forgetting was investigated using a continuous recognition memory paradigm. Subjects were required to make a speeded old/new response to each of 200 items presented sequentially on a computer screen. Ninety-five items appeared twice. The numbers of items intervening between the first and second occurrence were 1, 4, 9, 19 and 49 (19 of each). With alcohol, subjects were less sensitive (decreased d-prime) and more conservative (increased beta). Recognition speed and accuracy were both impaired by alcohol and by increasing numbers of intervening items. In addition, an interaction between the effects of alcohol and of delay on recognition accuracy indicates that the impairment of memory with alcohol can be at least partly attributed to faster forgetting.