Does Talking About Emotions Influence Eyewitness Memory? The Role of Emotional vs. Factual Retelling on Memory Accuracy
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Soleti, Emanuela
Curci, Antonietta
Bianco, Antonella
Lanciano, Tiziana
Abstract / Description
Eyewitnesses typically talk about the crimes they have seen. The different ways in which a witness talks can also influence later recollections. Indeed individuals can talk about crimes in order to cope with their negative emotions or to provide a detailed report. In the current study we investigated the role of factual vs. emotional retelling on memory accuracy of individuals who have eyewitnessed and discussed an emotional event. Participants were shown a video in which a quarrel between strangers was evident, then they were assigned to one out of three experimental conditions, i.e., (a) talking in group about emotional reactions to the video, (b) talking in group about factual details of the video; (c) completing an unrelated task. We employed a novel procedure in groups that ensured more ecological validity; retelling with other co-eyewitnesses in fact resembles real life situation. Eyewitnesses’ memory for details of the video was assessed immediately before the retelling session and after a short delay. Results showed that while factual retelling prevents memory impairment over time, emotional retelling determined less detailed memories. Implications for forensic assessments of eyewitness’ memory were discussed.
Keyword(s)
memory accuracy factual retelling emotional retelling eyewitness testimonyPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2012-11-30
Journal title
Europe's Journal of Psychology
Volume
8
Issue
4
Page numbers
632–640
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Soleti, E., Curci, A., Bianco, A., & Lanciano, T. (2012). Does Talking About Emotions Influence Eyewitness Memory? The Role of Emotional vs. Factual Retelling on Memory Accuracy. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 8(4), 632–640. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v8i4.526
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ejop.v8i4.526.pdfAdobe PDF - 387.61KBMD5: 9893b69f833f2f329d84fb0ad32c2e3f
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There are no other versions of this object.
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Soleti, Emanuela
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Curci, Antonietta
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Bianco, Antonella
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Lanciano, Tiziana
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-21T10:00:50Z
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Made available on2018-11-21T10:00:50Z
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Date of first publication2012-11-30
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Abstract / DescriptionEyewitnesses typically talk about the crimes they have seen. The different ways in which a witness talks can also influence later recollections. Indeed individuals can talk about crimes in order to cope with their negative emotions or to provide a detailed report. In the current study we investigated the role of factual vs. emotional retelling on memory accuracy of individuals who have eyewitnessed and discussed an emotional event. Participants were shown a video in which a quarrel between strangers was evident, then they were assigned to one out of three experimental conditions, i.e., (a) talking in group about emotional reactions to the video, (b) talking in group about factual details of the video; (c) completing an unrelated task. We employed a novel procedure in groups that ensured more ecological validity; retelling with other co-eyewitnesses in fact resembles real life situation. Eyewitnesses’ memory for details of the video was assessed immediately before the retelling session and after a short delay. Results showed that while factual retelling prevents memory impairment over time, emotional retelling determined less detailed memories. Implications for forensic assessments of eyewitness’ memory were discussed.en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statuspeerReviewed
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CitationSoleti, E., Curci, A., Bianco, A., & Lanciano, T. (2012). Does Talking About Emotions Influence Eyewitness Memory? The Role of Emotional vs. Factual Retelling on Memory Accuracy. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 8(4), 632–640. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v8i4.526
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ISSN1841-0413
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1165
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1357
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v8i4.526
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Keyword(s)memory accuracyen_US
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Keyword(s)factual retellingen_US
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Keyword(s)emotional retellingen_US
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Keyword(s)eyewitness testimonyen_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleDoes Talking About Emotions Influence Eyewitness Memory? The Role of Emotional vs. Factual Retelling on Memory Accuracyen_US
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DRO typearticle
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Issue4
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Journal titleEurope's Journal of Psychology
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Page numbers632–640
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Volume8
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Visible tag(s)Version of Record