The role of time in neuropsychological performance: Investigation and application in an alcoholic population

Abstract

The role of time as a factor in neuropsychological performance has been relatively neglected in the literature to date. Cognitive functioning in 76 male and 67 female alcoholics and 48 male and 49 female controls was examined using overall accuracy measures and time measures on a neuropsychological test battery. Alcoholics as a whole performed poorer than controls on both measures. When accuracy and time measures were combined to form an Efficiency Index (Accuracy/Time), alcoholics were significantly less efficient than controls. Discriminant function analysis of accuracy measures, the measures most commonly used in evaluating neuropsychological performance, significantly predicted alcoholics' performance as did the Efficiency Index. The study illustrates the value of the consideration of time in addition to traditional accuracy measures as a sensitive and significant factor in performance.