Post Event Discussion

• What is memory contamination?

  When co-witnesses discuss a crime, they mis (mis)information from other witnesses with their own memories
• What is memory conformity?

  When witnesses go along with each other to win social approval or because they believe the other witnesses are right
• Who conducted a study on post-event discussion?

  Gabbert et al (03)
• What was the procedure?

  • Paired Ps watched a video of the same crime, but filmed so each P could see elements in the event that the other couldn't
  • Both Ps discussed what they saw on the video before individually completing a test of recall
• What did the find?

  • 71% of the Ps mistakenly recalled aspects of the event that they didn't see in the video but had picked up in the post-event discussion
  • In the control group, where there was no discussion, there were no errors