Eyewitness memory: The impact of a negative mood during encoding and/or retrieval upon recall of a non-emotive event
The police often appeal for eyewitnesses to events that were unlikely to have been emotive when observed. An eyewitness, however, may be in a negative mood whilst encoding or retrieving such events as mood can be influenced by a range of personal, social, and environmental factors.
For example, bad weather can induce a negative mood. This experiment compared the impact of negative and neutral moods during encoding and/or retrieval upon eyewitness recall of a non-emotive event. A negative mood during encoding had no impact upon the number of correct details recalled (provided
participants were in a neutral mood at retrieval) but a negative mood during retrieval impaired the number of correct details recalled (provided participants were in a neutral mood at encoding). A negative mood at both time points enhanced the number of correct details recalled, demonstrating
a mood-dependent memory enhancement. The forensic implications of these findings are discussed.
Keywords: Emotion; Eyewitness; Memory; Mood; Mood-dependent; Testimony
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK 2: Department of Psychology, University of Hull, Yorkshire, UK 3: Department of Psychology, City University London, London, UK
Publication date: 02 July 2016
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