Study surprise: alcohol boosts good judgment

[ChairmanMah]

Study surprise: alcohol boosts good judgment

Rosemary Poole
National Post


Tuesday, May 27, 2003

CREDIT: J. Emilio Flores, The New York Times

Drunk people can make rational decisions, says researcher Tara MacDonald, provided they have appropriate cues to guide them.

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People who drink too much and blame their irresponsible behaviour on alcohol will have to find a new excuse, following a study by researchers.

Alcohol may actually lead people to be more cautious in their decisions rather than impulsive, according to a surprise finding by psychologists at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.

"It contradicted what our intuitive assumptions would be, because people think alcohol makes them more impulsive," said Catherine Ortner, a Ph.D. candidate in psychology, who conducted the study.

The study divided male undergraduate students into three groups: sober, intoxicated, and a control group who received drinks flavoured with alcohol but not enough to intoxicate.

Ms. Ortner said the research team wanted to see if the intoxicated group would favour immediate rewards over more substantial, delayed rewards.

To test this hypothesis, all the participants were offered a chance of receiving $15 at the end of the session, or double that amount later.

Surprisingly, the students who had no alcohol jumped at the $15 offer more readily than did their intoxicated counterparts.

Ms. Ortner said that suggests our common assumption that drunkenness and rash decisions coincide, may not be correct.

And it may even indicate it is possible to minimize the negative impacts of alcohol by helping people make better decisions.

The study is published in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism.

The results echo a similar pattern Tara MacDonald, a social psychology professor at Queen's University, has observed in her own research on the subject.

"The [studies] are definitely related, and they're consistent with more general theories of alcohol and its effects on behaviour," Dr. MacDonald said.

She said the findings lead her to believe drunk people are not inherently more irresponsible than sober people.

Rather, she said, drunk people maybe be only less able to hold conflicting ideas in their heads and tend to focus on information that's more prominent to them.

In a 1998 study conducted in a Calgary nightclub, Dr. MacDonald found that people after a few drinks can be more aware of the need to practise safe sex than their sober peers -- provided so-called "inhibiting cues" are incorporated into the process.

In the Calgary study, participants received hand stamps with different messages on them -- some received a smiley face, while others received a stamp that read, "AIDS Kills."

Later in the evening, participants took a Breathalyzer test, read a short story about a sexual encounter and answered a series of hypothetical questions.

In the end, those with the stamps carrying strong messages were more likely to focus on the message and said they were more likely to practise safe sex.

Based on these findings and other studies, both researchers say it may be possible to minimize the incidence of rash decisions made under the influence -- people just need a little visual prompting.

"I think what [the studies] show," Dr. MacDonald said, "is that if you do make those inhibiting cues more salient -- for example if there were posters or signs in the washroom warning people about the dangers of behaviours like drinking and driving or having sex without a condom -- if there's this reminder when they're intoxicated, they might focus on and act on those cues."

But Dr. MacDonald points out that so far, none of the studies have examined actual behaviour, and only asked participants about their intended behaviour in hypothetical situations.

rpoole@nationalpost.com

© Copyright 2003 National Post

[myself808]

But Dr. MacDonald points out that so far, none of the studies have examined actual behaviour, and only asked participants about their intended behaviour in hypothetical situations.

So drunk people have hypothetical good judgement. wonderful. I've seen too many drunken fools to beleive this applies to actual behavior and actions.

[sOKaLiBoY]

you mean i cannot blame a stupid decision on being drunk anymore :lol:

[Emperor_Mike]

I think the Doctor who performed this experiment must've been drunk while doing so.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

The study divided male undergraduate students into three groups: sober, intoxicated, and a control group who received drinks flavoured with alcohol but not enough to intoxicate.

Man, how come I never hear about the calls to be test subjects in these kinds of studies ...

[mr. x]

bah, i am so sick and tired of these damn "studies" (by dr. dude and his frat brothers) that always finds that whats bad for you is good for you and vice versa

study done by the institute for the promotion of vice

[Faithless]

Tell this to the Highway Patrol the next time you get pulled over.

[windup]

um. how did this even get funded?