The Impact of Alcohol Intoxication and Short-Sighted Decision Making in the Interrogation Room

Abstract

Suspects are often intoxicated during arrest and interrogation, yet little is known about intoxicated suspects during interrogation. Student participants (n = 141) were assigned to an intoxication group (sober, placebo, intoxicated at approximately .08%) and to be guilty or innocent of cheating (i.e., the cheating paradigm). To test whether alcohol myopia leads intoxicated suspects to focus on immediate salient consequences during interrogation, an interrogator accused participants of cheating and used one of two possible interrogation scripts that varied the consequences of confession and denial. There were no significant effects of intoxication, although all false confessors were intoxicated. Guilty participants focused more on shortterm consequences than innocent participants when providing statements that could be interpreted as incriminating. Most participants made such a guilt-suggestive statement, indicating that if they talk to police anyone is at risk of saying something to reinforce investigators’ suspicions. Low-to-moderate intoxication, surprisingly, does not amplify that risk.