Two theoretical models have been proposed to evaluate the effects of alcohol on cognition: Firstly the attention allocation model, which suggests that alcohol enhances the focus and affects shifts of attention, such that only the most salient cues are attended to and other available cues are ignored (Steele and Josephs, 1988, 1990). This is supported by results of studies on overt and covert attention, as described previously (Jaaskelainen et al., 1996). The second related model is the response inhibition model (Fillmore and Vogel-Sprott, 1999, 2000) based on the theory of cognitive control (Logan and Cowan, 1984), where behavioral activation and inhibition are two independent processes. Impaired behavioral inhibition processes underlie deficits of self-control observed postalcohol. The alcohol-related decline in performance may be related to difficulties in maintaining attention on the task at hand and/or deficits in inhibiting a prepotent response.
