The speed at which we drink alcohol may be influenced by
the shape of the glass we drink from, according to new research from the
University of Bristol, published in PLOS ONE. This could be a target to help
control the problematic levels of drunkenness that are becoming increasingly
common in our society.
Dr Angela Attwood and colleagues from Bristol's School of
Experimental Psychology recruited 160 social drinkers aged 18-40 with no
history of alcoholism to attend two experimental sessions. At one session they
were asked to drink either lager or a non-alcoholic soft drink from either a
straight-sided glass or a curved 'beer flute'.
The participants were almost twice as slow when drinking
alcohol from the straight-sided glass compared to the curved glass. There was
no difference in drinking rates from the glasses when the drink was
non-alcoholic.
The researchers suggest that the reason for this may be
because it is more difficult to accurately judge the halfway point of shaped
glasses. As a result, drinkers are less able to gauge how much they have
consumed.
In order to test this, participants attended another
session in which they completed a computer task that presented numerous
pictures of the two glasses containing varying volumes of liquid. By asking
participants to judge whether the glass was more or less than half full, the
researchers were able to show that there was greater error in accurately
judging the halfway point of the curved glass.
Importantly, the degree of this error seemed to be
associated with the speed of drinking. That is, the participants who tended to
show the greatest error in their halfway judgments tended to show the greatest
changes in drinking rate.
The speed at which an alcoholic beverage is drunk will
influence the level of intoxication experienced, and also the number of drinks
consumed in a single drinking session. Therefore, slowing drinking rates is
likely to have positive impact for the individual and also at a population
level.
Dr Attwood said: "Due to the personal and societal
harms associated with heavy bouts of drinking, there has been a lot of recent
interest in alcohol control strategies. While many people drink alcohol
responsibly, it is not difficult to have 'one too many' and become intoxicated.
Because of the negative effects alcohol has on decision making and control of
behaviour, this opens us up to a number of risks.
"People often talk of 'pacing themselves' when
drinking alcohol as a means of controlling levels of drunkenness, and I think
the important point to take from our research is that the ability to pace
effectively may be compromised when drinking from certain types of
glasses."
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