The effect of volition and memory distrust on eyewitness suggestiblity
| Date | 29 November 2024 |
| Pages | 227-241 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-08-2024-0067 |
| Published date | 29 November 2024 |
| Author | Ditte Barnoth,Scott Brown,Renan Saraiva,Marlena Wagner,Hayley Joanne Cullen |
The effect of volition and memory distrust
on eyewitness suggestiblity
Ditte Barnoth, Scott Brown, Renan Saraiva, Marlena Wagner and Hayley Joanne Cullen
Abstract
Purpose –Post-eventinformation (PEI)may distort eyewitness memoryand lead to erroneous eyewitness
testimonies. This paper aims to explore whether factors such as volitional engagement with PEI (e.g.
choice to engage witha co-witness) and memory distrust influence misinformation acceptance and the
perceivedcredibility of a co-witness.
Design/methodology/approach –Participants (n¼223) completed the Memory Distrust Scale and then
watched a short mock crime video. Thereafter, two-thirds of the participants were askedw hetherthey would
prefer or not to listen to a co-witness’ account of the witnessed event (choice condition), and one-third of the
participants did not have the choice (control condition). Every participant listened to the co-witness account
(which contained items of misinformation); thus, those who preferred to listen to the testimony were in the
choice-yes (i.e., volition) condition and those who preferred not to listen were in the choice-no (i.e., non-
volition) condition. Finally, participants completed a cued recall task assessing their memory of the video
and acceptance of misinformation. They also provided ratings to establish the perceived credibility of the
co-witness.
Findings –The results indicated that neither volition nor memory distrust influenced misinformation
acceptance. However, those who preferred to listen to the testimony (i.e., the choice-yes condition)
perceivedthe co-witness as more credible thanthose in the choice-no or control conditions.
Practical implications –The findings suggest that witnesses are susceptible to misinformation
regardless of their willingness to engage with or avoid PEI. Further implications and future research
directionsare discussed.
Originality/value –To the best of the authors’knowledge, this study is the first to investigatethe role of
volition and memory distrust as a trait in eyewitnesses tendency to engage with or avoid post-event
information. The research explores whether these mechanisms impact upon memory conformity and
perceivedco-witness credibility.
Keywords Volition, Memory distrust, Post-event information, Misinformation, Memory conformity,
Eyewitness memory, Credibility
Paper type Research paper
Although eyewitness testimonies remain crucial in criminal investigations, it is well-
established that eyewitness memory is malleable (Loftus, 2005). For instance,
witnesses often encounter post-event information (PEI), which may contain false
details (i.e. misinformation) about the witnessed event (Gabbert et al.,2003;Paterson and
Kemp, 2006a), which they may later incorporate into their witness statements (Ayers and
Reder, 1998;Gabbert et al., 2003;Williamson et al.,2013). When discussing an event with a
co-witness, this process of adopting misinformation from them is known as memory
conformity (Gabbert et al., 2003). Memory conformity can have detrimental effects by
hindering investigations or leading to wrongful convictions (Fazio et al.,2013;Paterson and
Kemp, 2006b;Wixted et al.,2018).
The misinformation effect is typically explored using the misin formation paradigm (Ayers and
Reder, 1998;Frenda et al.,2011;Loftus, 2005;Loftus and Palmer, 1974;Murphy et al., 2023).
In this paradigm, participants witness a staged crime (e.g. in a s hort video), then receive PEI
Ditte Barnoth and Scott
Brown are both based at
The School of
Psychological Sciences,
The University of
Newcastle, Callaghan
Campus, Callaghan,
Australia.
Renan Saraiva is based at
the University of
Portsmouth, Portsmouth,
UK. Marlena Wagner is
based at The School of
Psychological Sciences,
The University of
Newcastle, Callaghan
Campus, Callaghan,
Australia.
Hayley Joanne Cullen is
based at School of
Psychological Sciences,
Macquarie University,
Sydney, Australia.
Received 2 August 2024
Revised 17 September 2024
30 September 2024
9 October 2024
Accepted 9 October 2024
Data availability statement:
Research documentation is
openly available at the Open
Science Framework: https://osf.
io/5k7h3/
DOI 10.1108/JCP-08-2024-0067 VOL. 15 NO. 2 2025, pp. 227-241, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2009-3829 jJOURNAL OF CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY jPAGE 227
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