19 July 2007

Alcohol, aggression and working memory

If the speculation about why the following is so is right, it has wider ramifications. "It appears that alcohol has the potential to both increase and decrease aggression, depending on where's one's attention is focused. The psychologists speculate that working memory is crucial not only to barroom behavior, but to all social behavior, because it provides the capacity for self-reflection and strategic planning. Activating working memory with salient, non-hostile, and health-promoting thoughts, in effect reduces the 'cognitive space' available for inclinations towards violence."
That would presumably go for other things too ...
ScienceDaily: The End Of Barroom Brawls: Study Shows Alcohol Can Reduce Aggression:

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