2134/21547
Heather Flowe
Heather
Flowe
Melanie K. Takarangi
Melanie K.
Takarangi
Joyce E. Humphries
Joyce E.
Humphries
Deborah S. Wright
Deborah S.
Wright
Alcohol and remembering a hypothetical sexual assault: Can people who were under the influence of alcohol during the event provide accurate testimony?
Loughborough University
2016
Alcohol myopia
Sexual assault
Memory monitoring and control
Hypervigilance
Intoxication
Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified
2016-06-09 10:50:51
Journal contribution
https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Alcohol_and_remembering_a_hypothetical_sexual_assault_Can_people_who_were_under_the_influence_of_alcohol_during_the_event_provide_accurate_testimony_/9617294
We examined the influence of alcohol on remembering an interactive hypothetical sexual assault scenario in the laboratory using a balanced placebo design. Female participants completed a memory test 24 hours and 4 months later. Participants reported less information (i.e., responded ‘don’t know’ more often to questions) if they were under the influence of alcohol during scenario encoding. The accuracy of the information intoxicated participants reported did not differ compared to sober participants, however, suggesting intoxicated participants were effectively monitoring the accuracy of their memory at test. Additionally, peripheral details were remembered less accurately than central details, regardless of intoxication level; and memory accuracy for peripheral details decreased by a larger amount compared to central details across the retention interval. Finally, participants were more accurate if they were told they were drinking alcohol rather than a placebo. We discuss theoretical implications for alcohol myopia and memory regulation, together with applied implications for interviewing intoxicated witnesses.