The impact of alcohol-induced retrograde facilitation on eyewitness memory

Alcohol can both harm and protect memory. It impairs memory completeness and sometimes accuracy (Hildebrand Karlen, 2018) but may also enhance memory when consumed after encoding but before retrieval, known as retrograde facilitation (RF) (Gawrylowicz et al., 2017). This study explored RF mechanisms using the misinformation paradigm (McClosky and Zaragoza, 1985). Participants watched a mock crime, consumed alcohol, received misinformation, and were then tested on their memory. RF predicts poorer memory for misinformation due to alcohol preventing new information from entering memory. The findings offer theoretical insights and practical implications for memory research and eyewitness contexts.