ABSTRACT—This article presents the first systematic test of
the attention-allocation model for alcohol-related aggression.
According to this model, alcohol has a ‘‘myopic’’ effect
on attentional capacity that presumably facilitates
aggression by focusing attention on more salient provocative,
rather than less salient inhibitory, cues in hostile
situations. Aggression was assessed using a laboratory
task in which mild electric shocks were received from, and
administered to, a fictitious opponent. Study 1 demonstrated
that a moderate-load cognitive distractor suppressed
aggression in intoxicated subjects (to levels even
lower than those exhibited by a placebo control group).
Study 2 assessed how varying the magnitude of a distracting
cognitive load affected aggression in the alcohol
and placebo conditions. Results indicated that the moderate-load
distraction used in Study 1 (i.e., holding four
elements in sequential order in working memory) suppressed
aggression best. Cognitive loads of larger and
smaller magnitudes were not successful in attenuating
aggression.