TY - JOUR
T1 - The impact of post-encoding alcohol consumption on episodic memory recall and remember-know responses in heavy drinkers
AU - Butterworth, Benjamin
AU - Hand, Christopher James
AU - Lorimer, Karen
AU - Gawrylowicz, Julie
N1 - ©2023 Butterworth, Hand, Lorimer and Gawrylowicz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).
Data availability statement:
The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found at: Open Science Framework https://osf.io/pwqd5/?view_only=2a0bca0548924353b907896cbf796d11.
PY - 2023/3/7
Y1 - 2023/3/7
N2 - People often consume alcohol following trauma, particularly in response to distressing memories. To date, little is known about how post-encoding alcohol consumption influences episodic memory recall for negative events. Understanding these effects may help to improve support for trauma victims - for example, witnesses and victims of crimes. We tested 60 participants who self-described as heavy drinkers. After watching an analog trauma film, half were allocated to consuming a moderate dose of alcohol (Alcohol-Exposed group), while half received a placebo drink (Placebo-Control group). Immediately and after a one-week delay, participants recalled the event free and cued recall tasks. Participants also gave remember-know responses and confidence ratings, elucidating alcohol's effect on experiential memory. Free recall performance was similar for the Alcohol-Exposed group and the Placebo-Control group during Sessions 1 and 2. The Alcohol-Exposed group benefitted more from the delayed repeated retrieval attempt. For the cued recall task, the Alcohol-Exposed group provided more "Do not Know" responses compared to the Placebo-Control group in both sessions. For the Alcohol-Exposed group only "Correct Know" responses increased from Session 1 to 2. Although memory performance improved across sessions, confidence levels decreased from Session 1 to 2 in the Alcohol-Exposed group. Post-encoding alcohol consumption appears to impact immediate episodic memory retrieval; however, this effect is only temporary in nature. No evidence was found that alcohol primarily reduces remembering responses. Much like previous findings focusing on pre-encoding alcohol consumption (Hagsand et al., 2017), current findings suggest that providing individuals who drank alcohol after witnessing an incident with a delayed repeated retrieval attempt can lead to more complete and accurate testimonies. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2023 Butterworth, Hand, Lorimer and Gawrylowicz.]
AB - People often consume alcohol following trauma, particularly in response to distressing memories. To date, little is known about how post-encoding alcohol consumption influences episodic memory recall for negative events. Understanding these effects may help to improve support for trauma victims - for example, witnesses and victims of crimes. We tested 60 participants who self-described as heavy drinkers. After watching an analog trauma film, half were allocated to consuming a moderate dose of alcohol (Alcohol-Exposed group), while half received a placebo drink (Placebo-Control group). Immediately and after a one-week delay, participants recalled the event free and cued recall tasks. Participants also gave remember-know responses and confidence ratings, elucidating alcohol's effect on experiential memory. Free recall performance was similar for the Alcohol-Exposed group and the Placebo-Control group during Sessions 1 and 2. The Alcohol-Exposed group benefitted more from the delayed repeated retrieval attempt. For the cued recall task, the Alcohol-Exposed group provided more "Do not Know" responses compared to the Placebo-Control group in both sessions. For the Alcohol-Exposed group only "Correct Know" responses increased from Session 1 to 2. Although memory performance improved across sessions, confidence levels decreased from Session 1 to 2 in the Alcohol-Exposed group. Post-encoding alcohol consumption appears to impact immediate episodic memory retrieval; however, this effect is only temporary in nature. No evidence was found that alcohol primarily reduces remembering responses. Much like previous findings focusing on pre-encoding alcohol consumption (Hagsand et al., 2017), current findings suggest that providing individuals who drank alcohol after witnessing an incident with a delayed repeated retrieval attempt can lead to more complete and accurate testimonies. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2023 Butterworth, Hand, Lorimer and Gawrylowicz.]
UR - https://osf.io/pwqd5/?view_only=2a0bca0548924353b907896cbf796d11
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1007477
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1007477
M3 - Article
SN - 1664-1078
VL - 14
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
JF - Frontiers in Psychology
M1 - 1007477
ER -