Eyewitness Memory: A Plea for a Detailed Study of Social Influence at Encoding

ABSTRACT: The evaluation of eyewitness memories has benefited greatly from basic memory research, which has shown that suggestive information or misinformation presented by a social source after an event can create substantial memory biases in participants’ memory, or even completely fabricated false memories. However, possible social influence occurring already at the stage of encoding (during the event) has so far been widely neglected. In basic research, meanwhile, several studies address this issue specifically with regard to incidental encoding of information (non-intentional encoding “along the way”, as it also occurs in eyewitness memories). The studies demonstrate that the social context at encoding influences how stimuli are encoded, and in one case even supports the occurrence of rich and detailed false memories. There are still many differences between the laboratory studies performed so far and any conceivable real-life scenarios of eyewitness situations. However, based on the results, it seems highly promising to evaluate the actual relevance of these initial findings for forensic science by modifying the paradigms to better reflect social encoding contexts that more closely resemble typical real-life eyewitness situations.