Problems of Forensic Sciences 2011 Vol. 86 (LXXXVI) 140-150
Can warning harm memory? The impact of warning on eyewitness testimony
Malwina Szpitalak, Romuald Polczyk
Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
Streszczenie
The main aim of this research was to explore the impact of warnings on the misinformation effect. The subjects listened to a recording and afterwards read a description of it which included, for the misinformed group, some details inconsistent with the recording. They then answered questions about the recording. The results obtained demonstrated various consequences of warning subjects about discrepancies between the original material and the post-event material. The hypothesis that the warning would decrease the misinformation effect among the misinformed participants was confirmed. Moreover, the hypothesis that warning non-misinformed subjects about non-existent discrepancies would decrease accuracy in the final memory test was also confirmed. In general, the results of the experiment set out here show that warning might have a negative influence on eyewitness testimony. It should not, therefore, be treated as an unambiguous factor that has a positive impact on the accuracy of testimony. The practical implications of the findings are discussed.
Słowa kluczowe
Misinformation effect; Warning; Memory; Eyewitness testimony.