Quality of written record following mock eyewitness testimony: Note taking should be a minimum standard!

摘要

By using a video-based narrative (unidirectional) eyewitness statement of an alleged victim, participants were asked to imagine they were police officers. We compared the quality of mock police officer written records in a between-subjects design comprising three conditions: (a) a free recall (n = 27), (b) a free recall by using recall strategies of the cognitive interview (n = 27), or (c) note taking while watching the video (n = 26). The quality of the reports was determined by the amount of correctly recalled details, omitted details, added details (commission errors), and changed details (confabulations). As predicted, the number of correct details was higher in the "Note Taking" condition whereas performance in the "Free Recall" and in the "Cognitive Interview" conditions did not differ. Higher verbal memory ability resulted in a better quality of the written records. Our results suggest that note taking facilitates the quality of written records.