Technology and eyewitness memory: evaluating the efficacy of a novel digital cued recall tool

Abstract

ABSTRACT In order to capture and preserve eyewitness memory, psychologists have developed cued recall tools that witnesses can fill out immediately after a critical incident. This study assesses the efficacy of a novel tool, ‘iWitnessed’. iWitnessed is a smartphone application that elicits information from witnesses about the event using a guided recall procedure. Naïve undergraduate participants (N = 72) witnessed a staged theft and were then randomly allocated to one of three immediate recall conditions: no recall (control), free recall, or iWitnessed. One week later all participants returned to the lab and were interviewed about the theft they had witnessed. The results showed that iWitnessed increased the amount of correct information reported in the participants’ immediate accounts (Hedge’s g = 1.26) without compromising overall accuracy. However, iWitnessed did not improve delayed recall relative to the free recall and control groups. This research shows that novel technological advancements can be used to capture and preserve accurate and detailed eyewitness accounts.