The author outlines the additive factor method for inferring the number and organisation of cognitive operations from patterns of additivity and the interaction between experimental factors. The technique was applied to 24 subjects who either received alcohol or a placebo and were then subjected to a number of tasks. These comprised the varied set task, fixed set task and concurrent sets task. Graphs are presented of the reaction times measured at different blood alcohol levels. In contrast to other work the results show that the action of alcohol is stage-specific. For the covering abstract see C 45915 (IRRD 876074).
Abstract