Much to the disappointment of American educators, Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores have shown a steady national decline for about the last twenty years. Various investigations have attempted to explain this decline by examining such factors as the changing racial and sexual composition of the examinees, high school grade inflation, declining academic standards in general, excessive television viewing, the civil rights movement, Vietnam, water gate, and nuclear fallout. These investigations show a higher level of theoretical abstraction than is necessary to understand the SAT score decline.Essays were solicited from college freshman enrolled in introductory sociology courses under my instruction. The essays were to describe their physical and mental condition and the perceived condition of others while taking the SAT examination.Representative quotes from the essays suggest that many of the examinees are drunk, stoned, hungover, indifferent or sleepy during the examinations. It is suggested that future research concerned with declining SAT scores take these factors into account. A hypothesis and research strategy are suggested.