Divided attention in young drivers under the influence of alcohol.

INTRODUCTION: The present research evaluates driving impairment linked to divided attention task and alcohol and determines whether it is higher for novice drivers than for experienced drivers. METHOD: Novice and experienced drivers participated in three experimental sessions in which blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) were 0.0 g/L, 0.2 g/L, and 0.5 g/L. They performed a divided attention task with a main task of car-following task and an additional task of number parity identification. Driving performance, response time and accuracy on the additional task were measured. RESULTS: ANOVA showed a driving impairment and a decrease in additional task performance from a BAC of 0.5 g/L, particularly for novice drivers. Indeed, the latter adopt more risky behavior such as tailgating. In the divided attention task, driving impairment was found for all drivers and impairment on information processing accuracy was highlighted, notably in peripheral vision. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The divided attention task used here provides a relevant method for identifying the effects of alcohol on cognitive functions and could be used in psychopharmacological research.

[A new program of social rehabilitation PRACS (Program of Reinforcing Autonomy and Social Capacities)]. / Un nouveau programme de Réhabilitation Sociale PRACS (Programme de Renforcement de l'Autonomie et des Capacités Sociales).

Schizophrenia is a widespread and severe disease in spite of an efficient pharmaco-therapy. The Programme for the Reinforcement of Autonomy and Social Skills (PRASS) we have devised is a new psycho-educational programme inspired from such techniques as psycho-education, cognitive remediation and cognitive behavioural therapy. The principle of the programme consists in increasing patients'awareness of the concrete problems of everyday life with a view to helping them to achieve personalized projects. Therefore, PRASS is composed of four units corresponding to daily situations: (1) dealing with money, (2) dealing with time, (3) developing communication skills and leisure and (4) introducing oneself. This programme is based on the principle of group sessions (learning social skills) and individual sessions (projects elaboration). The validation study of this programme has shown its efficiency, especially in that it brings more autonomy to the patients.