Repeated Recall of Repeated Events: Accuracy and Consistency

• Published in: Journal of applied research in memory and cognition 2022-06, Vol.11 (2), p.229-244
• Main Authors: Rubínová, Eva, Blank, Hartmut, Koppel, Jonathan, Dufková, Eliška, Ost, James
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attribution; Conversation; Credibility; Experiences (Events); Female; Human; Human Information Storage; Internal intrusions; Interviews; Male; Mental Confusion; Recall (Learning); Recall accuracy; Recall consistency; Recency Effect; Repeated events; Repeated recall; Schema; Source Monitoring
• ISSN: 2211-3681; 2211-369X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jarmac.2021.09.003

In both casual conversations and interview settings, people may be required to provide details of instances that were similar to other experiences. When this happens repeatedly, consistency across reports is often taken as a proxy for credibility. However, processes of schema formation and interference due to similarity make recall and accurate source attribution of details to specific instances challenging. We investigated the accuracy and consistency of recall in these contexts in a re-analysis of five studies. Confusions of details were widespread (1) across instances -participants frequently attributed the origin of details to incorrect instances, but also (2) across repeated retrieval attempts -participants frequently changed parts of their reports. There was, however, a clear pattern of primacy and recency effects: Recall of the first and final instances was more accurate and consistent than recall of the middle instances. We discuss potential mechanisms underlying these effects as well as their practical implications. General Audience Summary People may be asked to recall instances of events that were similar to other experiences, sometimes on several occasions. Importantly, consistent recall of specific experiences is difficult, as the similarity of each experience to one another makes it challenging to distinguish between them. We examined the accuracy and consistency of recall of repeated events in a re-analysis of data from five studies. Repeated events consisted of four instances (interactive sessions, stories, or word-lists), and participants recalled each instance on several occasions with increasing delay. Recall was generally a mix of details that happened during a specific instance and details that happened during other instances. However, participants were more accurate in their recall of the first and final instances and more confused in their recall of the middle instances. For example, participants would frequently include details that occurred during Instance 3 in their report of Instance 2. Moreover, such confusions occurred not only across instances but also across retrieval attempts: Participants were more consistent in their recall of Instances 1 and 4 than in their recall of Instances 2 and 3. These primacy and recency effects for accuracy and consistency were stable across delay. We discuss these findings in relation to processes that are engaged when a person tries to decide in which instance (i.e., source) specific details occ