Learning impairment in alcoholics using an ecologically relevant test.

Sober male middle-aged alcoholics with a mean duration of 11.5 years of abuse and abstinence for a minimum of 3 weeks performed more poorly than age- and education-equated controls on a face-name learning test, replicating previously reported findings. Duration of alcoholism was unrelated to learning scores; however, a measure of alcohol intake (maximal quantity-frequency) over the 6 months before treatment was significantly and inversely correlated with learning. Significant positive correlations between face-name learning and ratings of alcoholics' treatment behavior by their therapists provided objective evidence that the face-name learning test is ecologically relevant.