memory and identification accuracy has found that
intoxicated witnesses are less likely to be accurate in
their descriptions of events and people but are just as
likely as sober witnesses to make a correct identifica-
tion decision. In addition, intoxicated witnesses may be
more susceptible to suggestion and suggestive proce-
dures than are sober witnesses. However, as research
has suggested, this finding should not necessarily be
taken to imply that intoxicated witnesses are always
less reliable than their sober counterparts.
Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, is a depressant that is pro-
duced by the fermentation of yeast, sugars, and starches
and is most commonly found in beer, wine, and liquor.
After it is ingested, alcohol is metabolized by enzymes
in the liver. However, because the liver can only metab-
olize small amounts of alcohol at a time, the remaining
alcohol is left to circulate through the body until it can
be processed. Alcohol impairs judgment and coordina-
tion as well as attention level, and the more alcohol
consumed, the greater the impairment. For example, in
all states in the United States, the maximum level of
blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) that is permitted to
be under the “legal limit” for driving a motor vehicle is
0.08% (80 mg/dl). However, the effects of alcohol
intoxication as described above are likely to be present
at BACs much lower than is set by the legal limit.
Although scientists and researchers know that alco-
hol consumption causes reduced coordination and
impaired judgment, the effects of alcohol intoxication
on memory has received little attention from psychol-
ogy and law researchers. One of the potential reasons
for this is that previous research has focused on the
effects of alcohol from a public safety perspective
(i.e., setting legal limits for driving) and not from a
victim or witness perspective. However, given that
there are more than 450,000 violent crimes in bars and
nightclubs every year in the United States (and there-
fore more than 450,000 victims/witnesses who are
likely to have consumed at least some alcohol), research
on this topic is extremely valuable. The general find-
ings from the few research studies that have investi-
gated the memory and identification abilities of
intoxicated witnesses are described below after a brief
review of alcohol decision-making theory and a
description of the research methodologies that are
used in this field of research.Theoretical Review
Not long ago, researchers believed that alcohol acted as
a general disinhibitor that resulted in risky decisionmaking, best characterized by the phase “throwing cau-
tion to the wind.” However, the disinhibition hypothesis
was unable to account for the finding that in some situ-
ations an intoxicated individual would become aggres-
sive, whereas at other times the same individual would
become depressed or happy. In an attempt to account
for these disparate reactions to alcohol consumption,
alcohol myopia theorywas proffered. According to this
theory, intoxicated persons, due to their limited cogni-
tive capacity as a result of their alcohol consumption,
are able to attend only to the most salient aspect in their
environment. For example, a sober person is capable
of having a conversation with another person while
attending to other events in the surroundings, such as a
new person entering the room. An intoxicated person
having the same conversation, however, is much less
likely to notice peripheral details in the environment.
Similarly, intoxicated persons are more likely than
sober persons to take into account only the immediate
cues in their environment and to have a limited capac-
ity to consider or bring to awareness other information,
such as the consequences of their behavior.Alcohol Research Methodologies
Although the research literature on this topic is lim-
ited, a discussion of the types of research methodolo-
gies that are most common when investigating the
effects of alcohol on eyewitness memory is warranted.
Two of the most common techniques are laboratory
research and field studies.LLaabboorraattoorryy RReesseeaarrcchh
Laboratory research on this topic involves (a) pre-
screening participants for any factor that would make
them ineligible for alcohol consumption research (e.g.,
underaged participant or pregnant female), (b) obtaining
the consent to participate, and (c) administering alcohol.
The amount of alcohol given is calculated on a partici-
pant-by-participant basis and takes into consideration the
following factors: the desired BAC, the concentration of
the alcohol being administered, and the participant’s sex
and weight. The alcohol is generally administered over a
period of 30 to 45 minutes, and after a short period of time
(for adsorption), the stimulus (e.g., video clip of a taped
mock crime or an interaction with a confederate) is then
presented to the participant. Next, depending on the par-
ticular research question, the participants may be asked
to complete the dependent measures while still intoxi-
cated, or they may be asked to return for a follow-up12 ———Alcohol Intoxication, Impact on Eyewitness MemoryA-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:41 PM Page 12