This Simple Psychological Trick Could Vastly Improve Witness Testimony

You're at the grocery store, struggling to remember that final item you were supposed to buy. Taking a moment to close your eyes, your brain can focus on the task at hand. Chances are, you might remember those oranges you need to buy. We know that eye closure can help jog memories, but not all scenarios make it socially comfortable: Imagine you're at a cocktail party, introducing guests whose names you've forgotten with your eyes closed. Somewhat more gravely, what if you were at a police station, trying to recount the scene of a crime to detectives? Would you feel uncomfortable closing your eyes in an unfamiliar environment, for perhaps an extended amount of time? Would that discomfort affect the quality of your memories? Psychology researcher Robert A. Nash of Aston University in the U.K. regularly teaches his student about the eye closure effect -- a simple way to boost memory recollection by shutting out unnecessary visual stimulus. "When I teach my students about the eye closure effect, they always tell me, 'I would hate closing my eyes in a police interview!'" wrote Nash in an email to The Huffington Post. "So how is it that eye closure helps people remember, even though people hate the idea of doing it?" Improving eyewitness memory is literally a life-or-death research question within the context of the criminal justice system. The Innocence Project, an organization that overturns wrongful convictions with the help of DNA evidence, says that eyewitness misidenti...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news