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Comparing methods of encountering post‐event information: the power of co‐witness suggestion
Author(s) -
Paterson Helen M.,
Kemp Richard I.
Publication year - 2006
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/acp.1261
Subject(s) - witness , psychology , event (particle physics) , power (physics) , social psychology , cognitive psychology , computer science , physics , quantum mechanics , programming language
The current study compared the effects of co‐witness information on memory with more widely studied methods of encountering post‐event information. Participants were shown a crime video and then exposed to both correct and incorrect post‐event information about the video through one of four methods: (1) leading questions, (2) media report, (3) indirect co‐witness information, or (4) co‐witness discussion. There was also a control condition in which participants did not receive any post‐event information. All participants were individually tested on their memories for the event 1 week later. Results suggest that co‐witness information had a particularly strong influence on eyewitness memory, whether encountered through co‐witness discussion or indirectly through a third party. That is, participants were more likely to report co‐witness information than post‐event information encountered through leading questions or a media report. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.