Citation

Christianson S, Bylin S. Appl. Cogn. Psychol. 1999; 13(6): 495-511.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/(SICI)1099-0720(199912)13:6<495::AID-ACP615>3.0.CO;2-0

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

An experiment is reported examining memory for a crime. One group of subjects was instructed to genuinely remember the crime, and a second group was instructed to simulate amnesia for the crime. Subjects were presented a description of a crime and asked to pretend that they were the principal perpetrator. After reading the description, rating emotional reaction and involvement, and after a distraction interval, subjects were given instructions for one of two conditions: (1) Genuine--to recall everything they could; (2) Simulation--to recall so as to evade responsibility, as if they did not remember very well. A free recall test was followed by a cued recall test, and subjects were also asked to fill out a questionnaire assessing responsibility. One week later, both groups were given the same tests and asked for genuine recall and ratings. Results showed that whereas recall of the genuine group declined from test 1 to test 2, recall of the simulation group increased, but did not reach the level of the genuine group. It is suggested that in simulated amnesia cases, suspects may withhold reporting details that have a probative value for the police investigation, and that withholding of information may reduce subsequent recall of the original memory representation of the crime event. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Language: en