Developing New Digital Methods to Study and Improve Eyewitness Testimony

Developing New Digital Methods to Study and Improve Eyewitness Testimony

Alvin Sherman Library

Witnesses play a crucial role in criminal investigations. However, their ability to recall important details is influenced by cognitive processes such as memory. To improve eyewitness testimony, psychologists developed science-based interviewing techniques, such as the Cognitive Interview, which are used by police to elicit accurate accounts. We also created new retrieval strategies, namely the Category Clustering Recall (CCR), which has been implemented by agencies such as the Los Angeles Police Department. However, research supporting the use of these techniques predominantly used the mock-witness paradigm, where participants observed a mock-crime on a two-dimensional (2D) screen and recalled it in a controlled lab environment. This method may not reflect real-world experiences, raising concerns about ecological validity. With the rise of immersive virtual reality (VR) technology, this project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of current interviewing strategies in a more realistic setting. Using a 2 x 3 factorial design, 132 participants viewed a mock crime on a computer screen (2D Condition) or using a Meta Quest 2 headset (360° condition) and were asked to recall it 30 minutes later using either a Structure Interview (Control Condition), a Cognitive Interview, or a Modified Cognitive Interview with CCR. Although recall data is still being coded and analyzed, preliminary results suggest that participants who viewed the crime using VR reported greater presence and immersion. These outcomes were assessed both physiologically (change in heart rate) and subjectively (Multimodal Presence Scale). Results suggest that VR-based mock crimes enhance ecological validity for interviewing methods currently used in police investigations.

Both senior authors contributed equally to this work.