Relating alcohol-induced performance deficits to mental capacity: a suggested methodology

Performance tests are generally more reliable and more easily administered than on-the-job measures of performance, and in this way are preferable for studying the adverse consequences of environmental stressors. However, a linkage or context would be useful in interpretation of these laboratory measures. This paper reports findings with two indexing methods using multiple regression. In the first study, we illustrate "dose equivalency" where deficits on microcomputer performance tests were related to graded dosages of alcohol, and prediction equations of blood alcohol level were established. In the second experiment, "surrogate criteria" are demonstrated where cognitive mental tests of military aptitude, known to be predictive of operational performances, were administered to a sample who were tested repeatedly on the same microcomputer performance test. Multiple regression analyses of the computerized tests with the amplitude tests were significant (p < 0.01) and ranged from R = 0.50 to 0.94. Finally, the loss in performance owing to alcohol was indexed to loss on the microcomputer tests through the relationship of the tests to the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). Since the latter is strongly predictive of all forms of military operational performance, we suggest that alcohol-related losses in microcomputer performance test scores can serve as a useful intermediary, permitting meaningful linkage to these real-world performances.