A case study of eyewitness memory of a crime

Abstract

21 witnesses observed a shooting incident in which 1 person was killed and a 2nd seriously wounded. The incident took place on a major thoroughfare in midafternoon. All of the witnesses were interviewed by the investigating police, and 13 witnesses (aged 15–32 yrs) agreed to a research interview 4–5 mo after the event. In the present study, the eyewitness accounts provided in both the police and research interviews were analyzed. The witnesses were highly accurate in their accounts, and there was little change in amount or accuracy of recall over 5 mo. However, some aspects of color memory and age, height, and weight estimations were found to be erroneous. The eyewitnesses resisted leading questions, and their stress levels at the time of the event appeared to have no negative effects on subsequent memory. The results differ from the pattern of many laboratory studies of eyewitness memory (i.e., in the degree to which the witnesses in the present study were actively involved in the event) and point to the need for field research of this type to evaluate the generalizability of laboratory experiments. (41 ref) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)