Eyewitness memory: The impact of a negative mood during encoding and/or retrieval upon recall of a non-emotive event.
The police often appeal for eyewitnesses to events that were unlikely to have been emotive when observed. An eyewitness, however, may be in a negative mood whilst encoding or retrieving such events as mood can be influenced by a range of personal, social, and environmental factors. For example, bad weather can induce a negative mood. This experiment compared the impact of negative and neutral moods during encoding and/or retrieval upon eyewitness recall of a non-emotive event. A negative mood during encoding had no impact upon the number of correct details recalled (provided participants were in a neutral mood at retrieval) but a negative mood during retrieval impaired the number of correct details recalled (provided participants were in a neutral mood at encoding). A negative mood at both time points enhanced the number of correct details recalled, demonstrating a mood-dependent memory enhancement. The forensic implications of these findings are discussed.
a Department of Psychological Sciences , University of Liverpool , Liverpool , UK.
Craig
C
Thorley
b Department of Psychology , University of Hull , Yorkshire , UK.
Stephen A
SA
Dewhurst
b Department of Psychology , University of Hull , Yorkshire , UK.
Joseph W
JW
Abel
c Department of Psychology , City University London , London , UK.
Lauren M
LM
Knott
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
Emotion; Eyewitness; Memory; Mood; Mood-dependent; Testimony