Citation

Cardone D, Dent H. Leg. Crim. Psychol. 1996; 1(2): 165-177.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, British Psychological Society, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.2044-8333.1996.tb00316.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between memory for an event and interrogative suggestibility. Six groups of people with learning disabilities (Full Scale IQ: 53-74) received either a verbal or a visual-verbal presentation of an event and one of three methods of eliciting recall (free recall, specific questions, general questions). It was found that a visual-verbal presentation led to more complete and accurate recall than a verbal only presentation, and that subjects in the specific questions condition gave more complete and accurate recall than subjects in the free recall condition. These results are discussed in the light of related research on questioning people with learning disabilities. Further, it was found that subjects receiving a visual-verbal presentation were less susceptible to the leading questions of the suggestibility scale used than were subjects receiving a verbal only presentation. This finding may call into question the validity of the suggestibility scale as a measure of the reliability of eyewitness testimony. This is because most human testimony is based on visually perceived material while the suggestibility scale presents only verbal information.

Language: en