ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE AND SEMANTIC PRIMING OF ALCOHOL RELATED WORDS

Two experiments are reported in which lexical decision time (LDT) was measured for target words related to alcohol. In one experimental condition (A-A) targets were preceded by alcohol related Prime words. In a second condition (0-A) targets were preceded by primes unrelated to alcohol. Experiment 1 found a semantic priming effect (LDT faster in the (A-A) than the (O-A) condition) for participants with a DSM III diagnosis of alcohol dependency but not for an age, sex and vocabulary matched control group of non-dependent drinkers. Experiment 2 compared a heavy drinking but non-dependent group with a light alcohol consumption group. No semantic priming effect was found in either group. It is concluded that the semantic priming paradigm may have value as a clinical tool for the detection of alcohol dependence and the assessment of decline in dependence.