Eyewitness memory of a supermarket robbery: a case study of accuracy and confidence after 3 months.
In this case study, 14 witnesses of an armed robbery were interviewed after 3 months. Security camera recordings were used to assess memory accuracy. Of all information that could be remembered about 84% was correct. Although accurately recalled information had a higher confidence level on average than inaccurately recalled information, the mean accuracy-confidence correlation was rather modest (0.38). These findings indicate that confidence is not a reliable predictor of accuracy. A higher level of self-reported, post-event thinking about the incident was associated with higher confidence levels, while a higher level of self-reported emotional impact was associated with greater accuracy. A potential source of (mis)information, a reconstruction of the robbery broadcasted on TV, did not alter the original memories of the witnesses.
Odinot
Geralda
G
Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) Leiden, P.O. Box 792, 2300 AT, Leiden, The Netherlands. Odinot@nscr.nl
Wolters
Gezinus
G
van Koppen
Peter J
PJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D005260:Female; D019649:Food Industry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D036301:Qualitative Research; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013800:Theft; D013997:Time Factors; D014743:Videotape Recording; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult