Equipping witnesses with transferable skills: the Self-Administered Interview^©

Enhancing older adults’ eyewitness memory for present and future events with the Self-Administered Interview.

“…A comparative analysis between the current older adults' data and data from younger adults obtained during an earlier published study (Gawrylowicz et al 2013) suggests that the SAI is an effective investigative interviewing tool irrespective of witness age. Moreover, older and younger adults benefited similarly from prior experience with the SAI.…”

“…To examine further whether older adults show a greater or lesser benefit of the SAI relative to younger adults, data from the current older cohort was compared with data from younger adults obtained during an earlier study on the SAI transfer effect (Gawrylowicz, Memon & Scoboria, 2013). The average education level of our older sample (M = 13.82, SD = 3.37) is comparable to that of college-age samples, therefore the younger and older groups appear comparable in education level.…”

“…Participants wore headphones to eliminate distractions. The stimulus events were the same as in Gawrylowicz et al (2013).…”

“…The SAI and FR booklets were coded using the same coding schemes as in Gawrylowicz, et al (2013). The accounts were coded for the total number of correct, erroneous, and confabulated details.…”

“…Gawrylowicz, Memon, and Scoboria (2013) showed that younger adults with prior SAI experience reported significantly more correct details for a new event for which the SAI was not used, without a decrease in accuracy rates. These findings suggest that the beneficial effects of the SAI are not only due to rehearsal, but that it may equip witnesses with transferable skills to use when providing reports about subsequent events.…”