To test whether the relationship between drinking parameters and
cognitive functioning can be visualized as a curvilinear surface (rather
than as a line, which more traditional regression equations presuppose),
the authors tested 84 recently detoxified and 72 longer- term abstinent
alcoholic men with the Halstead-Reitan battery. Quadratic statistical
models did not predict test performance in the first group; a few
predictions were found in the second. When the multiple correlation was
adjusted for number of cases and variables, the "nonlinear" results were
statistically no more significant than those of simpler linear models. It
is concluded that drinking history does not readily explain cognitive
findings among sober alcoholics and that polynomial models can produce
inflated correlation coefficients.Abstract Teaser