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A technique that separates storage from retrieval in the Peterson paradigm was used .to study the information-processing dynamics of alcohol-induced amnesia. An experiment with a 2X2X2 factorial design was performed on normal subjects; the factors were (a) drug group (alcohol vs. placebo), (b) organization (high vs. low organization of target items), and (c) retention interval (4 sec vs. 12 sec). For the storage measure, all main effects and the Organization X Retention Interval interaction were found to be significant. For the 'retrieval measure, all main effects and interactions were significant except the Drug Group X Retention Interval interaction. Because the storage and retrieval measures were found to be independent, a two-process explanation of alcoholinduced memory impairment was developed, using the theoretical notions of "depth of encoding" and "restriction of search set," Some clinical implications are discussed.

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