Effects of Stress Induced by a Simulated Shooting on Recall by Police and Citizen Witnesses

Two experiments address the accuracy of citizen and police witnesses in recalling stressful events. Participants saw 2 training scenarios. Experiment 1 evaluated the effects of active engagement and the presence of a simulated shooting on police officers' memory for details. Police officers rec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of psychology 2000-09, Vol.113 (3), p.359-386
Main Authors: Stanny, Claudia J., Johnson, Thomas C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Arousal
Biological and medical sciences
Citizens
Eyewitness memory
Eyewitnesses
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Guns
Human
Humans
Inhibition (Psychology)
Learning. Memory
Male
Memory
Mental Recall
Police
Police - education
Police officers
Police psychology
Police shootings
Police training
Psychological aspects
Psychological stress
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Questionnaires
Recall
Recall (Memory)
Recollection (Psychology)
Shooting
Simulation training
Social aspects
Stress
Stress (Psychology)
Stress, Psychological
Surveys and Questionnaires
Traumatic incidents
Weapons
Witnesses
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Description
Summary:Two experiments address the accuracy of citizen and police witnesses in recalling stressful events. Participants saw 2 training scenarios. Experiment 1 evaluated the effects of active engagement and the presence of a simulated shooting on police officers' memory for details. Police officers recalled significantly fewer details from the scenario in which a shooting occurred. Active engagement did not influence recall. Experiment 2 compared the memory performance of police and citizen witnesses. Manipulation checks were added to assess the arousal produced by a shooting, and control procedures were added to evaluate the memorability of specific scenarios. Police and citizen witnesses did not differ reliably in accuracy. The perpetrator was remembered less well than the weapon when a simulated shooting occurred, and one scenario was significantly more difficult to remember than the other. The need to replicate eyewitness research with a variety of materials is discussed.
ISSN:0002-9556
1939-8298
DOI:10.2307/1423364