Eye-closure improves memory for a witnessed event under naturalistic conditions

Abstract

Eye-closure may help people remember live and videotaped mundane events and videotaped violent events. The present study extended this research by examining memory for a forensically relevant live event (a staged verbal altercation) and by interviewing witnesses under naturalistic conditions. Ninety-six witnesses were interviewed either inside in a quiet setting or outside on a busy street, with eyes open or closed. In free recall, eye-closure significantly increased the number of correct details reported, without harming testimonial accuracy. These benefits were significant for witnesses interviewed inside but not for witnesses interviewed outside. This finding highlights the potential role of spontaneous mental context reinstatement in the eye-closure effect. In cued recall, eye-closure improved finegrain correct recall of visual details for both groups of witnesses. From an applied perspective, the findings suggest that police interviewers should instruct witnesses to close their eyes, both during initial statements taken on the street and during full interviews conducted at the police station.

Does rapport‐building boost the eyewitness eyeclosure effect in closed questioning?

“…In contrast, Vredeveldt and colleagues have gathered evidence in favour of modality‐specific processes. In particular, when focusing solely on witnesses' reporting of highly specific, fine‐grained details, they found that eyeclosure selectively enhances visual recall (e.g., Vredeveldt & Penrod, ; Vredeveldt et al ., ). Together these findings point to both modality‐specific and generalized cognitive processes underpinning eyeclosure effects.…”

“…For instance, Perfect et al (2008) found that people who closed their eyes whilst remembering events were better able to correctly answerand less likely to incorrectly answerquestions about those events, compared to people who kept their eyes open. Other studies show that the benefits of eyeclosure uphold when people recall events that occurred 1 week or even several years beforehand (Vredeveldt, Baddeley, & Hitch, 2014;Wagstaff et al, 2004), as well as in non-laboratory settings (Vredeveldt & Penrod, 2013). There is therefore much to gain from understanding the boundaries of this technique's potential.…”

Detection of Concealment in an Information‐Gathering Interview

“…One aim of an investigative interview is to encourage interviewees to recall and report all relevant information they can remember (Bull, ; Fisher, ). There are several ways to help people to remember and report more information in the course of an interview, one of which is by asking people to close their eyes while discussing their activities (Perfect et al, ; Vredeveldt, Baddeley, & Hitch, ; Vredeveldt, Baddeley, & Hitch, ; Vredeveldt, Hitch, & Baddeley, ; Vredeveldt & Penrod, ). Fisher and Geiselman () argued that closing the eyes facilitates recall because it leads to more focussed concentration and blocks out visual (and perhaps other) sources of interference (see also Glenberg, Schroeder, & Robertson, ; Wagstaff et al, ).…”

“…In the second phase, (labelled cued recall phase) participants were asked a series of cued recall questions to determine whether interviewer‐led questioning produced a difference between liars and truth tellers. As a further manipulation in the cued recall phase, half of liars and half of the truth tellers were given an eye closure instruction to see if this technique, shown to elicit more detailed recall (Perfect et al, ; Vredeveldt & Penrod, ; Vredeveldt et al, 2011, 2012, 2013), would amplify any differences between the veracity groups. We predicted that the eye closure instruction would increase the amount of information provided by both truth tellers and liars (Hypothesis 2, eye closure main effect).…”

Reduction of Environmental Distraction to Facilitate Cognitive Performance

“…The Eye-Closure Interview (Vredeveldt et al, submitted) could prove to be a feasible and effective alternative. Indeed, findings from studies in which the eye-closure instruction was tested under naturalistic conditions (Vredeveldt and Penrod, 2013) and in a field setting (Vredeveldt et al, submitted) seem promising.…”