NCJ Number
207567
Journal
Legal and Criminological Psychology Volume: 9 Issue: 2 Dated: September 2004 Pages: 215-227
Date Published
September 2004
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study examined the effects of socially encountered misinformation on eyewitness accounts of videotaped crime events.
Abstract
Eyewitness information, while often pivotal in court cases, has been found to be influenced by misinformation delivered after the event. The current study examined whether there were differences in eyewitness memory of a videotaped crime event following the delivery of misinformation in either a social or non-social form. Participants were young adults aged 17 to 33 years and older adults aged 58 to 80 years who were recruited from undergraduate courses at the University of Aberdeen and from the local community. The study used a between subjects design with two age-matched control groups. Age differences of the participants were analyzed for differences in susceptibility to post-event information. Participants viewed a simulated crime event on videotape and were then exposed to four items of misinformation, delivered either via a discussion (socially) or within a written narrative about the event (non-socially). A 20-item questionnaire regarding the crime event was completed both before and after the misinformation was introduced. Results of statistical analyses indicated that participants were less accurate than controls at recalling the events following the delivery of misinformation. Moreover, those participants who were exposed to the misinformation via the social route (discussion) were significantly more influenced by the misinformation than were participants who gained misinformation via the non-social route (narrative description). Age group differences are discussed, although significant differences in susceptibility to misinformation by age were not found. Future research should focus on the extent to which co-witnesses can disregard socially provided misinformation. Tables, references, appendix