Previous research has demonstrated that alcohol impairs both the evaluative (Ridderinkhof et al., 2002) and regulative (Bartholow et al., 2006; Casbon et al., 2003; Curtin & Fairchild, 2003) components of cognitive control (see Botvinick et al., 2001) but has not directly addressed how alcohol affects these processes. The purpose of the present research was to begin to address this question, focusing on the evaluative component of control that previous research and theory have identified as critical for performance monitoring and adjustment (Botvinick et al., 2001; Botvinick, Cohen, & Carter, 2004; Carter et al., 1998; Yeung, Botvinick, & Cohen, 2004). By including multiple measures of error-related processing assessed at multiple levels, and by simultaneously testing multiple potential mediators of alcohol’s effects on a commonly used laboratory index of self-regulatory control, this study provided a more comprehensive assessment of potential mechanisms of alcohol’s self-regulatory impairment than has been provided in previous studies (e.g., Bartholow et al., 2006; Casbon et al., 2003; Curtin & Fairchild, 2003; Ridderinkhof et al., 2002).
