Resolving “He said/She said” – Researchers outline a method for verifying the accuracy of eye-witness memories

This study also found that asking a participant how confident they were in the accuracy of a particular memory provided no additionally useful information, on top of the hedge, delay and filler data.) These studies do have some limitations. The number of participants was small. And they were interviewed immediately after viewing the events they were asked to describe, which would rarely happen in real life eye-witness situations. Might delays in interviewing make it harder to use effort cues to predict statement accuracy? Only further research will tell.  Also, while use of a greater use of filler words and hedges was strongly associated with inaccuracy, that doesn’t mean that participants reporting accurate memories never used them. Will the total number of effort cues observed in a witness’s testimony allow police officers easily to distinguish between accurate and faulty memories? As yet, no one knows. Still, this work does reveal some objectively verifiable markers, and that’s an important first step. As the researchers point out, “Given research showing that most people have vast difficulties in judging the quality of others’ memories, combined with the scarcity of research on genuinely reported memories, these initial findings suggest unexplored alternatives that may prove highly useful for improving accuracy judgements.”  —Retrieval effort cues predict eyewitness accuracy Image: A television broadcasts Brett Kavanaugh testifying during the Senate heari...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Forensic Memory Source Type: blogs