Alcohol and the Taylor aggression paradigm: a repeated measures study

Acute alcohol intoxication has been shown to increase physical aggression in the laboratory as measured by the Taylor aggression paradigm with independent groups. Because it would be advantageous to use the Taylor paradigm in a repeated measures design to examine individual differences, the present study compared the performance of subjects on two counterbalanced occasions: when they were intoxicated and when they were sober. Order of testing significantly interacted with drug condition for the aggression measures and pain threshold. However, an analysis of the ratio of pain threshold to shock intensity, and to total aggression, revealed the procedure to be useful in understanding one aspect of how alcohol modulates aggression. The results suggest that acute alcohol intoxication interferes with the ability to integrate previously acquired knowledge in the formulation of behavioral strategies.