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Eyewitness Memory of a Supermarket Robbery: A Case Study of Accuracy and Confidence After 3 Months

  • Original Article
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Law and Human Behavior

Abstract

In this case study, 14 witnesses of an armed robbery were interviewed after 3 months. Security camera recordings were used to assess memory accuracy. Of all information that could be remembered about 84% was correct. Although accurately recalled information had a higher confidence level on average than inaccurately recalled information, the mean accuracy–confidence correlation was rather modest (0.38). These findings indicate that confidence is not a reliable predictor of accuracy. A higher level of self-reported, post-event thinking about the incident was associated with higher confidence levels, while a higher level of self-reported emotional impact was associated with greater accuracy. A potential source of (mis)information, a reconstruction of the robbery broadcasted on TV, did not alter the original memories of the witnesses.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Dutch police and the management of the Plus Supermarket in Gorinchem, The Netherlands, for their cooperation. We would also like to thank Marleen Pronker who assisted with collecting and scoring the data. This study would not have been possible without the cooperation of the witnesses. Many thanks to them for telling their story!

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) Leiden, P.O. Box 792, 2300 AT, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Geralda Odinot & Peter J. van Koppen

  2. Department of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Gezinus Wolters

  3. Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Peter J. van Koppen

  4. Free University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Peter J. van Koppen

Authors
  1. Geralda Odinot
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  2. Gezinus Wolters
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  3. Peter J. van Koppen
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Correspondence to Geralda Odinot.

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Odinot, G., Wolters, G. & van Koppen, P.J. Eyewitness Memory of a Supermarket Robbery: A Case Study of Accuracy and Confidence After 3 Months. Law Hum Behav 33, 506–514 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-008-9152-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-008-9152-x

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