Previous studies showed that collaborative remembering can reduce false memories through a process of mutual error checking, although conclusions were limited by the nature of the memory tasks (very few errors). The present experiments extend these findings to eyewitness memory by using a paradigm designed to increase the frequency of memory errors.
We examined whether stereotype threat affects older adults’ eyewitness memory and whether prior task success can improve older adults’ eyewitness memory. In Experiment 1, older adults were placed under stereotype threat or not; then they viewed a video of a crime and later attempted to recall it. Participants in the threat condition remembered fewer person, object, action, and location details from the video and were less accurate answering questions on a cued-recall task than those who were not under threat.
© Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza" - Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma
