Acute alcohol effects on repetition priming and word recognition memory with equivalent memory cues

Acute alcohol intoxication effects on memory were examined using a recollection-based word recognition memory task and a repetition priming task of memory for the same information without explicit reference to the study context. Memory cues were equivalent across tasks; encoding was manipulated by varying the frequency of occurrence (FOC) of words in the study lists. Twenty-two female and male social drinkers (age 21–24 years) completed equivalent versions of the memory tasks in two counterbalanced sessions (alcohol challenge, no-alcohol). Alcohol and the FOC manipulation affected recollection-based memory processing, but not repetition priming. Results supported alcohol’s dissociative effects on memory systems.