Adult Age and Gender Differences in Eyewitness Recall in Field Settings1

Six-hundred-fifty-one citizens were stopped in public places and tested for prompted recall of physical characteristics of a young woman to whom they had spoken for approximately 15 s, 2 min earlier. Recall differed as a function of the two targets used on five of eight characteristics, but no significant differences were found for either target as a function of the gender or age group of the witnesses. Young adults (18-29 years of age) in general were superior to middle-aged adults (30-44), who in turn were superior to older adults (45-65). Women were significantly more accurate than men in accuracy of recall for weight, and for characteristics judged to be more important than less important for person memory. Male and female witnesses were equally confident in their recall performance. Young and middle-aged groups were significantly more confident in recall than the oldest group. Significant correlations were found between confidence and accuracy of recall for men and for women, and for each age group. Women made significantly longer duration estimates of the encounters with the targets than did men. Men overestimated the duration by a 2:1 ratio, and women overestimated by a 3:1 ratio. No significant correlations were found between accuracy of duration estimates and confidence in reports. The results were interpreted in terms of their forensic importance.     

Probative v. prejudicial value of eyewitness memory research

A commentary is given on Ebbesen and Konecnis (1996) critical review ofeyewitness memory research and their conclusions that expert testimony hasgreater prejudicial than probative value and should not be admissible incourt. Selective attention is given to issues of admissibility, researchprocedures, face validity, voice identification, lineup fairness, showupsand lineups, and common knowledge. It is concluded that Ebbesen andKonecnis review is a necessary contribution to the field of eyewitnessmemory research. However, the psycho-legal conclusions drawn from thisreview appear to reflect a negative predisposition rather than a balancedscientific appraisal of the literature.     

Voice Identification Over the Telephone1

Following a telephone survey investigating attitudes toward police and frequency of personal victimization. 177 citizens between the ages of 18 and 88 years participated without forewarning in a field study on telephone voice identification. Identification accuracy (hits) improved with longer conversation durations (an average duration of 7.8 min compared to conversation durations of 3.2 min and 4.3 min. on average), but the false alarm rate also reliably increased with longer durations in a target-present lineup. False alarms were consistently high (overall M= .48) in the target-absent lineup. No significant differences were found in hit scores or false alarm scores over a two to three day retention interval. No significant correlation was found between confidence scores and accuracy of performance on the target-present lineup (r= .10). but a significant correlation (r= 36) was found on the target-absent lineup.     

Evidence for the self as an imaginal prototype

This study investigated recognition memory of self-photographs which had been previously rated by subjects for their degree of reference to an imaginal prototype of “real self.” The number of false alarms to NEW photographs was found to increase with degree of self-reference to the imaginal prototype with the exception of photographs rated highest in self-reference. Females were reliably superior to males in self-recognition. Males and females also differed in nonverbal behaviors reflecting differences in their image of real self. Results were interpreted as supporting an hypothesis that the self functions as a cognitive prototype which has both imaginal and verbal characteristics.     

Through the looking glass: Sex differences in memory for self-facial poses

This study investigated recognition memory of photographs of the subject's own face. Male and female subjects were photographed as they projected sociable faces, trustworthy faces, and intelligent faces. After deciding which face of 10 best represented each characteristic, and judging which photograph best represented their “real self,” a recognition memory test of poses was given. Half of each sex were tested under intentional learning conditions and the remainder were tested under incidental learning conditions. Females demonstrated superior recognition memory of their own facial projections and, in particular, recalled photographs of their “real self” and “most sociable” self most easily. No differences were found between the two learning conditions. Subjects' recognition performance was not related to their confidence of judgments. The results were discussed in terms of sex differences and the role of self in memory.     

The role of imagery in incidental learning of educable retarded and normal children

Forty-five educable retarded and 45 normal children were given an orientation task in which noun- and picture-paired associates were presented once or four times under one of three instructional conditions: intentional imagery, incidental imagery, or intentional control (no imagery). An immediate associative recall test showed both imagery conditions to be superior to the intentional control condition. Furthermore, imagery instructions facilitated incidental recall of the retarded Ss equal to the recall of normal children in the intentional condition. Four presentations of pairs in contrast to one presentation during the orientation task improved the learning of both groups. The recall of retarded Ss in contrast to normal Ss, however, was greater with four presentations under imagery instructions than under intentional control instructions. The results were discussed in terms of imagery processes and their educational implications.     

Retrospective duration estimations for variant and invariant events in field situations

Retrospective duration estimations were investigated immediately after participation in everyday, naturalistic activities which ranged between 4 seconds and 80 minutes in length. Those events which remain invariant over time were more accurately estimated than events which are variable in length. Support was found for Vierordt's Law (1868); short events were overestimated and longer events were underestimated. Imagery‐rehearsal had no significant effect on duration estimation. Age of participants was not related to duration estimations. Women gave reliably longer estimations than men, but no reliable differences were found for gender when estimations were based on events which were frequently experienced in familiar settings. Confidence–accuracy correlations were reliable for judgements of invariant events but not for variant events. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Person Recall in Field Settings1

Men and women were stopped in public places by a target, who approached them either in an open and friendly demeanor or with a closed and hesitant demeanor. Witnesses interacted with the target for either 5 s or 30 s, and were tested for cued recall 2 min after the encounter. Demeanor did not influence overall recall, but did affect recall of specific characteristics. Men were superior to women in recall of physical characteristics, but gender differences were not found in recall of clothing characteristics. Witnesses were superior with longer observation periods, especially for recall of clothing. Significant but low confidence‐accuracy correlations were found for recall of 8 of 14 person characteristics. Men were superior to women in their accuracy of duration estimations, but men and women both consistently overestimated durations.