Face recognition performance among alcohol-intoxicated witnesses in the field.

• Background: The aim of the present study was to further investigate prior research’s inconsistent results on how alcohol-intoxication affects eyewitness face identification ability in field settings, including moderately and highly intoxicated witnesses. As data collection is ongoing, the present submission is based on a preliminary data set. Method: Volunteer bar patrons (N = 68) first viewed a mock-crime video and were then asked to identify the perpetrator from either a target-present or target-absent photo show-up. Breath alcohol content (BrAC) was measured with a portable breathalyzer and ranged from 0.00-0.15% (M = .05%, SD = .04). Result: Relationships between identification accuracy and BrAC levels were analyzed using a logistic regression with BrAC, show-up condition (target-present vs. target-absent) and the interaction as predictors; and identification accuracy (correct vs. incorrect) as outcome. Analyses revealed that neither BrAC level nor the interaction had a significant influence on identification accuracy. However, show-up condition did, β = 2.12, SE = .58, Wald (1) = 13.49, p < .001, OR = 8.33, 95% CI [2.69, 25.84]. Regardless of intoxication level, participants had an easier time making a correct decision (83% rejections) when the photo showed the innocent look alike in the target-absent condition. This is in contrast to a smaller portion of correct decisions in the target-present condition, where only 37% of the witnesses correctly identified the real perpetrator. Conclusions: Similar to prior research (e.g., Altman et al., 2018) our preliminary findings suggest that face recognition may be robust against alcohol-intoxication. As data collection continues, we expect to collect more data from highly intoxicated participants in the field to reassess these findings at higher BrAC levels, yielding direct implications for legal settings and public policy.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Juridik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Law (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

alcohol

eyewitness memory

show-up

field study

intoxication

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