Alcoholics' Expectancies and Recall of Experiences During Intoxication
JOHN S. TAMERIN M.D.1,
SHELDON WEINER M.D.1, , and
JACK H. MENDELSON M.D.2
1 Clinical associates, National Center for Prevention and Control of Alcoholism, National Institute of Mental Health, 5454 Wisconsin Ave., Chevy Chase, Md. 20015
2 Chief, National Center for Prevention and Control of Alcoholism, National Institute of Mental Health, 5454 Wisconsin Ave., Chevy Chase, Md. 20015
Using a modified Q-sort test administered to 13 male alcoholics, the authors attempted to assess alcoholics' expectancies prior to drinking and to compare these with their subsequent self-reports of feeling states and behavior during experimentally induced intoxication. They found that during intoxication subjects observed significantly more aggression, sexuality, and dysphoria in themselves than they had anticipated. A marked increase in irresponsible behavior, however, was successfully predicted.
