Abstract
The effects of kava, a beverage drunk at social functions in many South Pacific island communities, on alertness (Posner, 1978) and the speed of access of information from long-term memory (Hunt, 1978) was assessed using a variant of Posner’s letter-match task. Kava was found to have no effect on the reaction times or errors of two groups of undergraduates who consumed doses thought usual (Experiment 1) and doses much greater (Experiment 2) than those associated with social functions.
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The data were collected by Deirdre Bakker as part of a master’s thesis submitted to the University of Canterbury. The authors thank Colin Burnett for preparing the computer program that controlled the experiment, Ian Douthwaite and Stuart McKenzie for their assistance in preparing programs used in data analysis, and Yadhu Singh of the University of the South Pacific for supplying the kava powder. Purchase of the equipment used in this study was made possible by University of Canterbury Research Equipment Grants 571 970, 572 615, and 573 486 made available to Paul N. Russell.
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Russell, P.N., Barker, D. & Singh, N.N. The effects of kava on alerting and speed of access of information from long-term memory. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 25, 236–237 (1987). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330341
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330341