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Who? What? When? Using a timeline technique to facilitate recall of a complex event

Who? What? When? Using a timeline technique to facilitate recall of a complex event Accurately recalling a complex multi-actor incident presents witnesses with a cognitively demanding retrieval task. Given the important role played by temporal context in the retrieval process, the current research tests an innovative timeline technique to elicit information about multiple perpetrators and their actions. Adopting a standard mock witness paradigm, participants were required to provide an account of a witnessed event. In Experiment 1, the timeline technique facilitated the reporting of more correct details than a free recall, immediately and at a two-week retention interval, at no cost to accuracy. Accounts provided using the timeline technique included more correct information about perpetrator specific actions and fewer sequencing errors. Experiment 2 examined which mnemonic components of the timeline technique might account for these effects. The benefits of exploiting memory organization and reducing cognitive constraints on information flow are likely to underpin the apparent timeline advantage. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition American Psychological Association

Who? What? When? Using a timeline technique to facilitate recall of a complex event

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References (28)

Publisher
American Psychological Association
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 American Psychological Association
ISSN
2211-3681
eISSN
2211-369X
DOI
10.1016/j.jarmac.2013.01.002
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Accurately recalling a complex multi-actor incident presents witnesses with a cognitively demanding retrieval task. Given the important role played by temporal context in the retrieval process, the current research tests an innovative timeline technique to elicit information about multiple perpetrators and their actions. Adopting a standard mock witness paradigm, participants were required to provide an account of a witnessed event. In Experiment 1, the timeline technique facilitated the reporting of more correct details than a free recall, immediately and at a two-week retention interval, at no cost to accuracy. Accounts provided using the timeline technique included more correct information about perpetrator specific actions and fewer sequencing errors. Experiment 2 examined which mnemonic components of the timeline technique might account for these effects. The benefits of exploiting memory organization and reducing cognitive constraints on information flow are likely to underpin the apparent timeline advantage.

Journal

Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition – American Psychological Association

Published: Mar 20, 2013

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