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Distinguishing eyewitness descriptions of perceived objects from descriptions of imagined objects
Author(s) -
Pickel Kerri L.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-0720(199910)13:5<399::aid-acp603>3.0.co;2-3
Subject(s) - deception , psychology , object (grammar) , suggestibility , lie detection , eyewitness testimony , interview , event (particle physics) , cognitive psychology , social psychology , artificial intelligence , law , computer science , physics , quantum mechanics , political science
This study identifies cues that differentiate perceptually based from suggested eyewitness memories and investigates whether misled witnesses deliberately invent false descriptions of suggested objects. Witnesses to a staged event either viewed a target object (Visible condition), did not see the object but had its presence suggested to them (Suggestion condition), or did not see the object but falsified a description (Deception condition). Compared to Suggestion witnesses, Visible witnesses who provided a description used more sensory details, used fewer verbal hedges and ‘I’ pronouns, rated their confidence higher, spoke more slowly, and maintained less eye contact with the interviewer. Obtained differences between Suggestion and Deception witnesses imply that misled witnesses do not intentionally fabricate descriptions. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.