Effects of Stereotype Threat and Prior Task Success on Older Adults’ Eyewitness Memory

Abstract

We examined whether stereotype threat affects older adults’ eyewitness memory and whether prior task success can improve older adults’ eyewitness memory. In Experiment 1, older adults were placed under stereotype threat or not; then they viewed a video of a crime and later attempted to recall it. Participants in the threat condition remembered fewer person, object, action, and location details from the video and were less accurate answering questions on a cued-recall task than those who were not under threat. In Experiment 2, older adults were either given prior task success (on a word fragment test) or not, before viewing the video of the crime and participating in the memory tests. Prior task success enhanced eyewitness memory by increasing the number of object, action, and locations details correctly recalled. Results suggest that stereotype threat reduces older adults’ eyewitness memory, and that prior task success may remediate this negative effect.