EFFECT OF MARIHUANA AND ALCOHOL ON VISUAL SEARCH PERFORMANCE

Two experiments were performed to determine the effects of alcohol and marihuana on visual scanning patterns in a simulated driving situation. In the first experiment 27 male heavy drinkers were divided into 3 groups of 9, defined by three blood alcohol levels produced by alcohol treatment: 0.0%, 0.75%, and 0.15% BAC's. Significant changes in visual search behavior including increased dwell duration, decreased dwell frequency and increased pursuit duration and frequency were found under alcohol. In the second experiment 10 male social users of marihuana were tested under both 0 mcg and 200 mcg tetrahydrocannabinol per kilogram bodyweight. Marihuana was found to have no effect on visual search behavior. The results are related to previous studies of alcohol and marihuana effects on information processing. Implications for highway safety are discussed.

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• Record URL:
  • https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/1169
• Corporate Authors:

  University of California, Los Angeles

  Department of Computer Science
  405 Hilgard Avenue
  Los Angeles, CA  United States  90095

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Moskowitz, H A
  • Ziedman, K
  • Sharma, S
• Publication Date: 1976-10

Media Info

• Pagination: 162 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alcohols; Behavior; Blood alcohol levels; Drivers; Drugs; Experiments; Highway safety; Marijuana; Measures of effectiveness; Performance; Surveillance; Traffic crashes; Visual perception
• Uncontrolled Terms: Effectiveness; Experimental data; Motor vehicle accidents; Visual search
• Old TRIS Terms: Psychoneuropharmacology
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00150478
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: UCLA-ENG-7615 Final Rpt., DOT-HS-802-052
• Contract Numbers: DOT-HS-150-3-668
• Files: NTIS, NTL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Mar 15 1977 12:00AM