Alcohol impairment and reaction time in driving tasks

Alcohol Reaction

NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gathers and disseminates information regarding the safety of America's highways on an annual basis and oftentimes releases Research Notes assisting in that endeavor. The DOT HS 811-016 Research Note released in August, 2008 is one such presentation.

As might be expected, this release contains a number of charts specifically dealing with the demographics of driver impaired accidents and fatalities. In regards to my particular proposed subject, it is extremely helpful in that it establishes a baseline for comparison that will allow my research to have some verifiability. The note contains charts on such items as; Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities per million, Drivers involved in fatal crashes and number and percentage who had blood alcohol content =.08+ by vehicle type and other related items and charts all dealing with the demographics of blood alcohol content as pertaining to accidents by demographics. The research even contains demographics broken down state by state.

BMJ Alcohol in the Body

This article can be summarized as providing medical information concerning the effects of alcohol on the human body written in terms that even a layman can understand. The article explains how a human body absorbs alcohol and the effects of that alcohol on various parts of the body.

This information is categorically broken down to provide an understanding of why certain individuals are affected in more adverse manners than other individuals when consuming approximately the same amount of alcohol. The article is especially useful in providing data concerning comparisons between heavy and light drinkers, as well as between men and women drinkers. The article also provides pertinent information of the affects of time, food levels and interactions between alcohol and other medicines.

Subject Study

This study can be used to demonstrate the veracity of the thesis. The study was completed using 20 subjects who were asked not to ingest alcohol two days prior and not to eat food 6 hours prior. The study found that reaction times for complex tasks were impaired after ingesting alcohol. It also found that reaction times for simple tasks were not significantly affected. This particular study will provide evidence that the thesis is a viable one.

Simple vs. Sophisticated Models

This particular article reads like a scientist's dream and a layman's nightmare. It provides scientific measurements for determining the amount of blood alcohol levels in the human body. The article even provides specific reasons for 'analytical and biological issues' for breath alcohol analysis. Those reasons include such items as radio frequency interference, mouth alcohol bias, abnormal pre-exhalation breathing patterns and interfering substances.

The primary purpose for including this as part of my thesis is that it does provide scientific parameters to what I am attempting to verify.

It does not matter to me that the article asks, "what is breath?" But it does matter to me that I can answer that question in a scientific manner in defending my study.

Reaction Time Literature Review

The Reaction Time review provides excellent data and definitions on how to test and verify reaction times, whether those times are simple or complex. Especially helpful is the information contained within the article on how that testing and verification has been employed in past studies.

The article provides a baseline in a number of areas that will correspond with my study. The review shows how a mean reaction time is compiled, how simple and complex reaction times vary, and the many different variables affecting how individual's reaction times are hindered. The article also addresses the difference between a small amount of stimuli and a large amount of stimuli in regards to reaction times as well as the intensity of such stimuli and the duration the of the stimuli that the experiment is subjected to. The article will be especially helpful in assisting the design of my study in a verifiable manner.

Rapid Communication

This article provides data that will assist in a comparison of the effects of alcohol (in beer) as compared to the effects of alcohol in degassed champagne. The article documents a study of 12 subjects who were each given doses of regular champagne and degassed champagne.

The study concluded that there were significant differences in the Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of the degassed and the regular champagne. These results will be of importance in the proposed study because they will provide further baseline information to compare the results. The data from this study is also important because it suggests that the high CO2 content of champagne may increase the rate of absorption. If these results are valid then it will be important to keep them in mind when asking the subjects of the proposed study to ingest alcohol, realizing that certain drinks are absorbed in different manners.

Alcohol Impairs Speed

The response rate to simple stimuli can be impaired by the administration of alcohol as discovered in previous studies and the proposed study seeks to verify the difference between that impairment in regards to simple and complex events. This particular article documents the results of that impairment concerning the early stages of information processing. The results of this study as documented by the article are of importance to the proposed study because the response in the early stages might differ from the results in the late stages of information processing. It is important therefore to recognize (in the proposed study) whether the response to simple or complex stimuli is in what stage of processing? The article documents total information processing and how it works, as well as how it becomes impaired due to the effects of administering alcohol to the subjects.

Effect of Low and Moderate Doses of Alcohol

This report provides some interesting data on how low and moderate doses of alcohol effect a drivers tendencies to drive in a more haphazard fashion, ie; faster speeds, more reckless driving, driving too close etc. This data can be important in the proposed study because it provides evidence that more reckless driving can place the driver in a more dangerous situation, and that with impaired reaction times to simple or complex stimuli, the driver is more apt to have an accident than otherwise would happen.

The study found that "increased accident risk among drivers who have ingested alcohol is attributable at least in part to slower responses to potential hazards." This information is important to the proposed study because it is being used to determine the rate of those slower responses.

The University Health Services provides information to students on the effects of alcohol on the body and that information can be found in the official school policy manual.

The proposed study will consist of student subjects who are affected (to some degree) by those policies and therefore it is likely to be of some importance to them. The report explains the blood alcohol content (BAC) and approximately how many drinks it takes to reach that level. It also explains how alcohol is passed through the body and what steps to take to slow down the absorption of the alcohol. The report also informs students of other factors to consider when drinking, factors that the students may not have considered or have known about due to lack of previous experience.