Cognitive functioning in sober social drinkers: a review and critique.

There have been recent scientific reports of an association between amount of alcohol drunk per occasion and inefficiencies in performance on cognitive-perceptual tests. The empirical evidence and six different hypotheses concerning the causal nature of the obtained relationships are reviewed. The findings are variable and seldom reproducible. There is no consistent evidence to support any of the causality hypotheses. Despite these limitations, the problem is of sufficient social, economic, legal and humanistic importance that continued investigation is warranted. The complexity of the problem addressed demands careful consideration of a number of relevant experimental variables. Guidelines for future research are offered as regards sampling, subject characteristics, measurement of cognitive-perceptual functioning and drinking history, as well as methods of analysis. The possible confounding roles of family history of alcoholism, anxiety, native intelligence and past educational experiences are stressed. The need for prospective studies is emphasized.