Within cognitive domains there remain debates concerning the varieties of component processes most affected in alcoholism. For example, are memory deficits in alcoholism primarily intrinsically mnemonic, or do they have their origin in executive dysfunction? Contradictory findings have emerged with episodic memory impairment in recently abstinent alcoholics not linked solely to executive dysfunction, suggesting genuine episodic memory deficits (Pitel et al., 2007a). By contrast, another study reported that episodic memory deficits were more related to impaired effortful executive processes in alcoholics than in controls (Noel et al., 2012a). To resolve this controversy, future studies need to investigate the interactions among component episodic memory and executive function processes in alcoholics and take account of alcohol history variables, including length of sobriety (cf., Fein et al., 2006), number of withdrawals (cf., Duka et al., 2003), and total lifetime alcohol consumption.
