Committee Chair

Arnold, Tomorrow D.

Committee Member

Madden, Julie; Shelton, Jill T.

Department

Dept. of Psychology

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

This study examined how ego threat (negative feedback) interacts with alcohol consumption to influence cognitive performance. We hypothesized ego threat would moderate the effects of alcohol on impulse control and attention in 30 college students (21-49 years). A 2×2 factorial design assessed performance on the Visual Search Task (attention) and Go/No-Go Task (impulse control) under laboratory and naturalistic settings, while sober or intoxicated. Alcohol consumption impaired performance, as evidenced by slower reaction times during visual search. An interaction effect emerged, with the combination of alcohol and ego threat further compromising reaction times. Interestingly, higher baseline impulsivity correlated with faster reaction times when sober. These findings corroborate prior research on alcohol's negative impact on executive functions and suggest a potential moderating role of ego threat on higher-order cognitive processes, warranting further investigation.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

8-2024

Subject

Cognition--Effect of drugs on; Alcohol--Physiological effect

Keyword

cognition; alcohol; ego threat; impulse control; attention

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

viii, 71 leaves

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Download

Share

COinS