Summary We examined the effects of acute alcohol on eyewitness memory for a simulated armed robbery under laboratory conditions. Alcohol and placebo participants viewed a slide series showing a target male taking a laptop from a helpdesk assistant, either on loan or at gunpoint. Following a brief retention period, participants responded to “central” multiple‐choice questions, about the target's actions face and clothing, and “peripheral” questions about other scene features. Alcohol participants shown the no‐weapon scene displayed poorer peripheral memory than placebo controls, though alcohol did not impair peripheral memory among weapon scene viewers. Alcohol participants also showed a weapon focus effect, providing less accurate responses to central questions related to details about the target male than no‐weapon controls. These findings are consistent with alcohol myopia theory and suggest intoxicated eyewitnesses may be more susceptible to weapon focus than sober counterparts.

Background: Alcohol intoxication has been associated with increases in risk taking behavior and more ambiguously, alterations in emotional perception. In the first study of its kind, we examine how theories of disgust can be used to help explain these effects. Methods: Using a single-blind procedure, participants (n=73) were randomly allocated to an alcohol (Males: 0.68g/kg; Females: 0.60g/kg) or placebo condition and then completed a psychometric measure of disgust (TDDS). Results: Results revealed a non-significant trend toward lower disgust sensitivity in the alcohol versus placebo condition. We did however find a significant negative correlation, whereby increases in breath alcohol level were associated with decreased pathogen disgust. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate a relationship between breath alcohol level and disgust sensitivity which could help explain differences in risk associated behavior.