Would you believe an intoxicated witness? The impact of witness alcohol intoxication status on credibility judgments and suggestibility
Memory conformity may occur when a person’s belief in another’s memory report outweighs their belief in their own. Witnesses might be less likely to believe and therefore take on false information from intoxicated co-witnesses, due to the common belief that alcohol impairs memory performance. This p...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-09-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.983681/full |
| _version_ | 1797997644946079744 |
|---|---|
| author | Georgina Bartlett Julie Gawrylowicz Daniel Frings Ian P. Albery |
| author_facet | Georgina Bartlett Julie Gawrylowicz Daniel Frings Ian P. Albery |
| author_sort | Georgina Bartlett |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Memory conformity may occur when a person’s belief in another’s memory report outweighs their belief in their own. Witnesses might be less likely to believe and therefore take on false information from intoxicated co-witnesses, due to the common belief that alcohol impairs memory performance. This paper presents an online study in which participants (n = 281) watched a video of a mock crime taking place outside a pub that included a witness either visibly consuming wine or a soft drink. Participants then read a statement from the witness that varied in the number of false details it contained before being asked to recall the crime. We found that the intoxicated witness was regarded as significantly less credible, but participants were not less likely to report misinformation from them. This suggests that intoxication status impacts one’s perception of how credible a source is, but not one’s ability to reject false suggestions from this source. Our findings reinforce the importance of minimizing co-witness discussion prior to interview, and not to assume that people automatically (correctly or not) discount information provided by intoxicated co-witnesses. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T10:36:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-be8d6f9053d14faa9ddc4bd28ee62e65 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T10:36:10Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-be8d6f9053d14faa9ddc4bd28ee62e652022-12-22T04:29:18ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-09-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.983681983681Would you believe an intoxicated witness? The impact of witness alcohol intoxication status on credibility judgments and suggestibilityGeorgina Bartlett0Julie Gawrylowicz1Daniel Frings2Ian P. Albery3Centre for Addictive Behaviours Research, Division of Psychology, London South Bank University, London, United KingdomDivision of Psychology and Forensic Sciences, Abertay University, Dundee, United KingdomCentre for Addictive Behaviours Research, Division of Psychology, London South Bank University, London, United KingdomCentre for Addictive Behaviours Research, Division of Psychology, London South Bank University, London, United KingdomMemory conformity may occur when a person’s belief in another’s memory report outweighs their belief in their own. Witnesses might be less likely to believe and therefore take on false information from intoxicated co-witnesses, due to the common belief that alcohol impairs memory performance. This paper presents an online study in which participants (n = 281) watched a video of a mock crime taking place outside a pub that included a witness either visibly consuming wine or a soft drink. Participants then read a statement from the witness that varied in the number of false details it contained before being asked to recall the crime. We found that the intoxicated witness was regarded as significantly less credible, but participants were not less likely to report misinformation from them. This suggests that intoxication status impacts one’s perception of how credible a source is, but not one’s ability to reject false suggestions from this source. Our findings reinforce the importance of minimizing co-witness discussion prior to interview, and not to assume that people automatically (correctly or not) discount information provided by intoxicated co-witnesses.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.983681/fullalcohol intoxicationmemory conformityeyewitness memoryintoxicated witnesswitness credibility |
| spellingShingle | Georgina Bartlett Julie Gawrylowicz Daniel Frings Ian P. Albery Would you believe an intoxicated witness? The impact of witness alcohol intoxication status on credibility judgments and suggestibility Frontiers in Psychology alcohol intoxication memory conformity eyewitness memory intoxicated witness witness credibility |
| title | Would you believe an intoxicated witness? The impact of witness alcohol intoxication status on credibility judgments and suggestibility |
| title_full | Would you believe an intoxicated witness? The impact of witness alcohol intoxication status on credibility judgments and suggestibility |
| title_fullStr | Would you believe an intoxicated witness? The impact of witness alcohol intoxication status on credibility judgments and suggestibility |
| title_full_unstemmed | Would you believe an intoxicated witness? The impact of witness alcohol intoxication status on credibility judgments and suggestibility |
| title_short | Would you believe an intoxicated witness? The impact of witness alcohol intoxication status on credibility judgments and suggestibility |
| title_sort | would you believe an intoxicated witness the impact of witness alcohol intoxication status on credibility judgments and suggestibility |
| topic | alcohol intoxication memory conformity eyewitness memory intoxicated witness witness credibility |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.983681/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT georginabartlett wouldyoubelieveanintoxicatedwitnesstheimpactofwitnessalcoholintoxicationstatusoncredibilityjudgmentsandsuggestibility AT juliegawrylowicz wouldyoubelieveanintoxicatedwitnesstheimpactofwitnessalcoholintoxicationstatusoncredibilityjudgmentsandsuggestibility AT danielfrings wouldyoubelieveanintoxicatedwitnesstheimpactofwitnessalcoholintoxicationstatusoncredibilityjudgmentsandsuggestibility AT ianpalbery wouldyoubelieveanintoxicatedwitnesstheimpactofwitnessalcoholintoxicationstatusoncredibilityjudgmentsandsuggestibility |