| Social drinkers (healthy males aged 18–34) participated in three experiments that examined some of the mechanisms that may be responsible for the effects of alcohol on emotionally charged memory. In a study on incidental learning, alcohol enhanced neutral, positive and negative memory, possibly by a nonselective consolidation mechanism. Alcohol's enhancement of memory was found to not be associated (contingently related) with its incentive reward and relief effects. In another study on intentional learning, alcohol enhanced positive memory and/or inhibited negative memory, possibly reflecting a contingent relationship to its incentive effects. When the role of individual differences was examined, relatively little influence was found in mediating the effects of alcohol on incidental memory. However, alcohol's effect on intentional memory was predicted by individual differences in response to some of alcohol's acute incentive effects. The studies demonstrate that alcohol's effects on memory are independent from, and can be combined with, its incentive effects. Further, consumption of alcohol may be influenced by separate effects on memory and incentive, and by their association. |
