Abstract
This study investigated the moderating effect of mattering on the relationship between rapport formation and the quantity of information in their testimonies during investigative interviews, and whether testimony accuracy correlates with meta-memory. 95 participants, whose levels of mattering and meta-memory were pre-measured, watched a mock crime video and then provided testimony following a 10-minute rapport formation process A rapport questionnaire was used to measure participants' perceived degree of rapport, and the recorded testimonies were evaluated for information quantity and accuracy. Results showed that the moderating effect of mattering on the degree of rapport formation and the quantity of information in the testimonies was not significant (p=.060), but the Johnson-Neyman technique identified a reinforcing effect of mattering, with better rapport formation leading to sharply higher utterance volumes in the interval below the mean (67.347; SD=9.608). Furthermore, the total meta-memory score was not significantly related to testimony accuracy, the sub-factor 'memory strategies' was positively related to accuracy. This suggests that witnesses with low levels of mattering benefit most from a good rapport with the investigator, and that assessing how effectively witnesses utilise strategic memory methods can provide important clues for assessing the reliability of their testimony.
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