244 



PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. 



in view of the general effects of alcohol, and in view of the specific 

 evidence that in the pulse apparent facilitation in response to alcohol 

 was proved to result from a paralysis of inhibitors, the most practical 

 hypothesis is, as we have seen, that alcohol diminished the controlling 

 influence of the particularly prominent inhibiting mechanism. 



The third largest change was produced in the sensory threshold for 

 electrical stimulation. The threshold was raised an average of 14 



TABLE 46. Nummary of the effect of alcohol on the various experimental processes in percentilefi. 1 



J The plus and minus signs in this table must be taken in the light of their origin on the basis 

 of our statistical conventions. We express the effect of alcohol throughout this investigation by 

 the formula "Effect of alcohol equals the average difference on alcohol days minus the average 

 difference on normal days" (see page 29). That is, if the effect of alcohol has a plus sign, then 

 the average difference between the normal of the day and subsequent periods on alcohol days is 

 greater than the average difference on normal days, i. e., the alcohol tended to reduce the meas- 

 urements. 



2 Records too few for inclusion but in the same direction as the average. 



per cent, but this effect is irregularly distributed between doses A and 

 B, showing the interaction of some new factor with the higher dose. 

 As we have already seen, this is partially if not wholly accounted for 

 by a modified critical demand of the subject. 



Fourth in extent is the effect on coordinated movements as seen in 

 the speed of the eye-movements, which average 11 per cent slower 



