People remember more while still intoxicated than they do a week later.
A University of Gothenburg study recruited 136 participants and divided them into two
groups. One group drank vodka, while the other drank juice. Participants then watched a
short film that depicted a verbal and physical altercation.
Half of the participants in each group were immediately questioned about their memory of
the film. The rest were interviewed a week later.
Researchers found that the intoxicated participants who were questioned right away
remembered more than any of those questioned later. Additionally, their recollections were
similar to those of their sober counterparts.
This study demonstrates that drunk witnesses are more reliable than people think. And
talking to a witness when he or she is still drunk may be better than waiting to interview
them later.
