Does eye closure improve memory recall of an eyewitness? Many researchers that have conducted multiple studies on this topic have asked this question. With eye closure, one can block out external factors that are distracting when trying to produce a mental image, increasing their memory of an event that was witnessed. According to, Reisberg (2013) during visual perception and visual imagery, the same areas of brain tissue are equally active. Therefore, when witnessing a live event then being tested on it, the accuracy of the answers can decline because of the brain recreating the event as a visual image and having disturbances. By closing your eyes, you are lessening the chance of mixing up thoughts thus causing error in memory (Vredeveldt & Penrod, 2013). The concept of eye-closure is related to meditating which causes relaxation of the mind. Previous research showed that when one relaxes their mind, they could concentrate more on recalling an event because they are blocking out all other visual and auditory interruptions (Wagstaff et al. 2010). Results from other studies demonstrated strong evidence that supported the idea of eye closure effecting memory when recalling an event that was witnessed.
According to Wagstaff et al. (2010) after conducting three experiments it was noted that, combining eye closure with focused meditation can possibly be more helpful then using just one in certain situations. Similarly, although it is not as popular or widely used as it once was, hypnosis can still be used as a way to help people remember things. This is because they both produce very alike results. With meditation participants could put themselves in a very relaxed state, assisting with blocking out unnecessary and disrupting...
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.... (2012). Environmental visual
distraction during retrieval affects the quality, not the quantity, of eyewitness recall. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 26(2), 296-300.
Reisberg, D. (2013). Cognition: exploring the science of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton.
Vredeveldt, A., Hitch, G. J., & Baddeley, A. D. (2011). Eye closure helps memory by
reducing cognitive load and enhancing visualization. Memory & Cognition, 39(7), 1253-1263.
Vredeveldt, A., & Penrod, S. D. (2013). Eye-closure improves memory for a witnessed
event under naturalistic conditions. Psychology, Crime & Law, 19(10), 893-905.
Wagstaff, G. F., Wheatcroft, J. M., Burt, C. L., Pilkington, H. J., Wilkinson,
K., & Hoyle, J. D. (2011). Enhancing witness memory with focused meditation and eye-closure: Assessing the effects of misinformation. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 26(2), 152-161.
... the stress and depression they may be facing after viewing a crime. When an eyewitness is facing depressing they tend to have high stress levels and to tend to get damaged brain cells these are some of the factors that can cause such disruption and therefore source error can occur. Another issue that may interfere with an eyewitness' memory is retroactive interference. This usually occurs when new information is processed that obstructs the retrieval of old information. [Retroactive Interference Defined, 2014]. The most common source of interference that can occur after the event of a crime is the reporting of the crime. Police investigations include leading questioning that is often suggestive, which can cause confusing to the eyewitness. The processing of new information may disrupt or entirely replace old information. [Rawlings, Maren Skouteris, Helen, 2004.]
Roediger III, H. L., Watson, J. M., McDermott, K. B., & Gallo, D. A. (2001). Factors that determine false recall: A multiple regression analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 8(3), 385-407.
In the study by Hilgard (1965). can clearly see how suggestions of negative visual hallucination and others can distort the participants' recall. Therefore the effect of hypnosis on eyewitness testimony is indeed a big effect and should be used with caution and caution. Study: Yuille and McEwan 1985. Aim: to find out more about the belief that hypnosis doesn't improve.
Marsh, R. L., Cook, G. I., & Hicks, J. L. (2006). The effect of context variability on source memory. Memory & Cognition (Pre-2011), 34(8), 1578-86.
For this book report, I decided to read Hugo Münsterberg's On the Witness Stand. This book contains essays on psychology and crime and eyewitness testimony. Today this book is used as a reference for many issues in forensic psychology. For this report, I focused on two chapters of the book: Illusions and the Memory of the Witness. I am going to first summarize the two chapters I read then talk about what was going on at the time this book was written. I will then report some of the research in the book, and finish with my opinion on how this book has contributed to the literature and how it relates to the current knowledge of forensic psychology.
Elizabeth Loftus, is a psychologist, mainly concerned with how subsequent information can affect an eyewitness’s testimony. Loftus has focused on misleading information in both the difference in wording of questions and how these questions can influence eyewitness testimony. This research is important because frequently, eyewitness testimony is a crucial element in criminal proceedings. Throughout Loftus’s career she has found a witness’s memory is highly flexible and subject to being influenced. The classic study by Loftus and Palmer (1974), illustrates that eyewitness testimony can be influenced by leading questions and ultimately proved unreliable.
Wagner, U., Hallschmid, M., Rasch, B.H., & Born, J. (2006). Brief sleep after learning keeps emotional memories alive for years. Biological Psychiatry, 60, 788–790.
In the court of law, eyewitnesses are expected to present evidence based upon information they acquired visually. However, due to memory processing, presenting this information accurately is not always possible. This paper will discuss the reliability of eyewitness testimony, its use in a relevant court case, and how the reasonable person standard relates to eyewitness testimony.
Minor consequences, might for instance, be confusing where one has placed something, like car keys. Such confusion can result in a simple inconvenience such as, the wasting of time. Although more serious consequence might for instance occur when one’s memory tricks the individual into giving false eyewitness accounts that might be costly to him, or other third parties. As such, it is important to critically analyze the dynamics of false memory formation and highlight methods that could be used to identi...
However, there are few studies investigating the effect of sleep deprivation on false memory formation; these studies offer conflicting evidence and are based on the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) task—a test where participants memorize lists of words associated with a word not on the list and are tested on their memory—instead of more naturalistic stimuli meaning that the effect constructive memory retrieval would have on false memory formation is more diminished (Frenda et al., 2014). The purpose of the study by Frenda et. al was to gain stronger evidence for any relationship between sleep deprivation and false memory formation within real-life situations. The results from this study may have practical applications, especially in eyewitness testimonies (Frenda et al., 2014). Determining whether or not sleep deprivation causes false memory formations could be tantamount to verifying the accuracy of eyewitness testimony of the
Farrants, J. (1998, September). The 'false' memory debate. Counseling Psychology Quarterly. Retrieved September 14, 2000 from ProQuest database (Bell & Howell Information and Learning-ProQuest) on the World Wide Web: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb
There have been two main studies into the effects of anxiety on eye-witness testimony (EWT), each producing conflicting results. The first was a study by Johnson and Scott (1976), the second by Yuille and Cutshall (1986).
2011). Hypnotic interviewing has been replaced by an alternative investigative interviewing called the cognitive interview. When used appropriately, the cognitive interview does not excessively influence incorrect responses and susceptibility to leading questions (Wagstaff et al. 2011). Applying hypnotic methods may help create relaxed and passive mode, which may help facilitate memory for certain kinds of material. Creating this atmosphere may help the client remember a face (Wagstaff et al. 2011). Components of hypnosis, such as eye closure, may help to reduce the distractions and aid with the production of visual and auditory imagery. According to Wagstaff et al. (2011), very brief focused meditation technique combined with eye closure may significantly enhance memory for both auditory and visual material without increased errors (Wagstaff et al. 2011). This may potentially provide a practical and reliable alternative to the longer and time consuming method of the cognitive interview. Although it may be useful to use the hypnotic methods as a brief memory facilitator for police procedures, it is important to note that it is less effective than a full cognitive interview
...Dermott, K. B. (1996). Misinformation effects in recall: Creating false memories through repeated retrieval. Journal of Memory and Language, 5(2), 300-318. doi: 10.1006/jmla.1996.0017
The mistaken recollection of information or the recollection of an event that never happened is known as a false memory (Rajagopal & Montgomery, 2011). The study of false memories has been of interest to cognitive psychologists (Otagaar, Smeets & Scoboria, 2013) for many years as it implies that human memory is vulnerable to the influence of external information, it also implies that our ability to recall events may not always be accurate. One major issue that has arisen with the research on false memories is the argued validity of eyewitness testimony (Wade, Green & Nash, 2011). Eyewitness testimony is the verified report made by someone who witnessed a crime (Wade et.al., 2011). False memories can interfere with the correct recollection of criminal offences which can potentially result in inaccurate accusations of a crime (Wade et.al., 2011). Researchers have been interested in studying false memories to develop a better understanding of how false memories work, and to what extent our memories can be assumed accurate (Jou & Flores, 2013).