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Facilitating eyewitness memory in adults and children with context reinstatement and focused meditation
Author(s) -
Hammond Laura,
Wagstaff Graham F.,
Cole Jon
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of investigative psychology and offender profiling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.479
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 1544-4767
pISSN - 1544-4759
DOI - 10.1002/jip.47
Subject(s) - psychology , cognitive interview , meditation , context (archaeology) , eyewitness testimony , suggestibility , cognition , interview , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , psychiatry , paleontology , philosophy , theology , political science , law , biology
This study examined the comparative efficacy of two brief techniques for facilitating eyewitness memory in police investigations. Adult and child participants ( N = 126; 64 children and 62 adults) who had viewed a videotape of a crime were subsequently tested for their memory of the event following either a focused meditation procedure (FM, derived from hypnotic interviewing techniques), a context reinstatement procedure (CR, a component of the cognitive interview), or a control procedure (no memory facilitation instructions). For both adults and children, the FM and CR procedures enhanced performance on both open‐ended and closed questions to levels above those achieved by controls, although those in the CR condition produced significantly more correct responses than those in the FM condition. However, only those in the CR group displayed elevated levels of confidence in relation to incorrect responses on closed questions. Implications for the possible use of such procedures are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.