Witnesses to a crime might recall events and faces less
accurately if physically exhausted at the time of the incident.
That's the conclusion from a study in which 52 police officers
were asked to recall events and identify suspects from ID
parades after reconstructed crime. Lorraine Hope of the
University of Portsmouth, UK, and colleagues gave all
participants a briefing about a pretend burglary. Half of them
then exercised for around a minute, to the point of exhaustion.
A minute later, all the police officers were taken to a house
where they were confronted by the prime suspect of the burglary.
Only 27 per cent of those who had exercised were later able to
identify the suspect in an ID parade, compared with 54 per cent
of those who had not. Those who had exercised also recalled just
56 per cent of the required details about the suspect compared
with 84 per cent from the non-exercisers. The team says that
physical exertion drains attentional resources, forcing a person
to focus on what is necessary for surv