Effects of physiological and physical state dependent matching on eyewitness memory

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 31-37)With the degree of influence eyewitness testimony has over verdicts, and in view of research revealing errors often associated with eyewitness memory, efforts at enhancing eyewitness memory, and thus, testimony, are of utmost importance to the proper functioning of our legal system. State dependent learning research has shown increased memory and learning when states present at encoding, are reinstated at recall. Based on a state dependent learning paradigm, this thesis sought to investigate the combined role of physiological and physical state dependent matching on eyewitness recall. One hundred sixty male and female students viewed a non violent video of a crime that took place in a university setting. The conditions of the study were matched on physiological state (exercise vs. relaxation), physical state (location 1 vs. location 2), both, or unmatched during times of encoding and decoding. Heart rate measurements were taken throughout the study to demonstrate that physiological levels were met. Recall accuracy was then measured on a 56-item post questionnaire. The double matched conditions for both physiological and physical states at encoding and decoding yielded significantly higher recall accuracy than both single matched and unmatched conditions. Similarly, single matched conditions yielded significantly higher recall accuracy than unmatched conditions. These results, if applied to eyewitness interviewing procedures, may indeed help enhance their given testimonies