Five experiments tested the idea that instructing a witness to close their eyes during retrieval might increase retrieval success. In Experiment 1 participants watched a video, before a cued-recall test for which they were either instructed to close their eyes, or received no-instructions. Eye-closure led to an increase in correct cued-recall, with no increase in incorrect responses. Experiments 2-5 sought to test the generality of this effect over variations in study material (video or live interaction), test format (cued- or free-recall) and information modality (visual or auditory details recalled). Overall, eye-closure increased recall of both visual detail and auditory details, with no accompanying increase in recall of false details. Collectively, these data convincingly demonstrate the benefits of eye-closure as an aid to retrieval, and offer insight into why hypnosis, which usually involves eye-closure, may facilitate eyewitness recall.

No abstract

The amount of MDMA in ecstasy tablets is axiomatic to the discussion of their long-term effects. In order for the observed differences in ecstasy users to be the result of MDMA-induced neurotoxicity it is necessary for them to have ingested one or more neurotoxic doses. These data indicate that the amount of MDMA in ecstasy tablets is dropping and that dose-effect relationships need to take this into account.

Three experiments examined some features of hypnotic induction that might be useful in the development of brief memory-facilitation procedures. The first involved a hypnosis procedure designed to facilitate face identification; the second employed a brief, focused-meditation (FM) procedure, with and without eye closure, designed to facilitate memory for an emotional event. The third experiment was a check for simple motivation and expectancy effects. Limited facilitation effects were found for hypnosis, but these were accompanied by increased confidence in incorrect responses. However, eye closure and FM were effective in facilitating free recall of an event without an increase in errors. FM reduced phonemic fluency, suggesting that the effectiveness of FM was not due to simple changes in expectancy or motivation.

This study investigated the factor analytic properties of Rubin and Peplau's (1975) Just World Scale and a questionnaire of possible causes of Third World poverty. Three Just World factors emerged in contrast to Hyland and Dann's (1987) four factor solution. They were interpreted as ‘Pro Just World’, Anti Just World' and 'Cynical or Reserved Just World Belief. Four poverty factors emerged, interpreted as ‘Blame the Poor; ‘Blame Third World Governments’,‘Blame Nature’ and ‘Blame Exploitation’. The most important finding to emerge was that only the ‘Pro Just World’ factor and significantly correlated with blaming the poor. Blaming the poor was significantly correlated with blaming Third World governments.

The confidence-accuracy (C-A) relation for general knowledge (GK) and eyewitness memory (EM) was compared in both within-and between-subjects analyses. Researchers in the cognitive tradition tend to use within-subjects designs and to find moderately positive C-A relations, whereas those in the forensic tradition tend to use between-subjects designs and to find no relation. Eighty subjects took part in one of two conditions-EM or GK. No difference between conditions was found on the within-subjects measure of the C-A relation, but there was differentiation with a between-subjects measure. There was a strong positive C-A correlation (r = .58, p < .01) for GK but not for EM (r =-.11, ns). One source of this difference may be the differing opportunities for calibration offered by the two kinds of memory.

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.

No abstract