Interaction of alcohol and reward in an achievement situation

Effects of psychological stress on acute alcohol intoxication following intake of 2 ml whisky/kg body weight were examined in 12 healthy subjects. Each subject performed a 45-min psychomotor task under four conditions, two of which increased achievement stress by promising the subject a monetary reward for rapid and accurate performance. The conditions were (a) task only, (b) task + reward, (c) task + alcohol, and (d) task + reward + alcohol. In condition (b) reward improved performance and heightened both physiological and subjective arousal, and in condition (c) alcohol impaired performance, lowered subjective arousal, and increased physiological arousal. In condition (d) the reward counteracted the depressant effects of alcohol on performance and mood, whereas an additive, arousing effect was obtained in all physiological variables, i.e., catecholamine and cortisol excretion and heart rate.