NCJ Number
78306
Journal
Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 9 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1981) Pages: 188-194
Date Published
1981
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses a study in which comparisons of recall and recognition accuracy scores between three groups of eyewitnesses were made.
Abstract
The subjects consisted of 45 volunteers enrolled in an introductory criminology class. Each of the subjects attended the class on the day an unannounced mock assassination took place during their lecture. The subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups, which resulted in eight females and seven males being assigned to each of the groups. One group received a fairly typical forensic hypnosis treatment, a second group was administered the same procedure without hypnotic induction, and the third group did not receive either the forensic hypnosis procedure or the induction. Each subject's description of the details pertaining to the mock assassination was recorded in writing by the experimenter, who sat next to the subject in a testing room. Results were calculated using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure in which the mean scores of the three groups were compared. The most accurate responses were provided by group two. A one-way ANOVA comparing the recognition mean scores of the three groups was also calculated. These data also suggest that the forensic hypnosis technique with or without hypnotic induction may serve to increase the accuracy of witness recall. However, any conclusions drawn from this study should be made with extreme caution because the study is only a preliminary investigation. Tables and eight references are provided.