Real-world implications of aphantasia: episodic recall of eyewitnesses with aphantasia is less complete but no less accurate than typical imagers
Individuals with aphantasia report an inability to voluntarily visually image and reduced episodic memory, yet episodic accounts provided by witnesses and victims are fundamental for criminal justice. Using the mock-witness paradigm, we investigated eyewitness memory of individuals with aphantasia v...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
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| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.231007 |
| _version_ | 1797649894420250624 |
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| author | Coral J. Dando Zacharia Nahouli Alison Hart Zoe Pounder |
| author_facet | Coral J. Dando Zacharia Nahouli Alison Hart Zoe Pounder |
| author_sort | Coral J. Dando |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Individuals with aphantasia report an inability to voluntarily visually image and reduced episodic memory, yet episodic accounts provided by witnesses and victims are fundamental for criminal justice. Using the mock-witness paradigm, we investigated eyewitness memory of individuals with aphantasia versus typical imagers. Participants viewed a mock crime and 48 hours later were interviewed about the event, randomly allocated to one of three conditions. Two interview conditions included techniques designed to support episodic retrieval mode, namely (i) Mental Reinstatement of Context (MRC) and (ii) Sketch Reinstatement of Context (Sketch-RC). A third Control condition did not include retrieval support. Aphantasic mock-eyewitnesses recalled 30% less correct information and accounts were less complete, but they made no more errors and were as accurate as typical imagers. Interaction effects revealed reduced correct recall and less complete accounts for aphantasic participants in MRC interviews versus Sketch-RC and Control. Aphantaisic participants in the Control outperformed those in both the Sketch-RC and MRC, although Sketch-RC improved completeness by 15% versus MRC. Our pattern of results indicates reduced mental imagery ability might be compensated for by alternative self-initiated cognitive strategies. Findings offer novel insights into episodic recall performance in information gathering interviews when ability to voluntarily visualize is impoverished. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:53:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1c4ed64f7259459aae55452d97793c3a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T15:53:42Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-1c4ed64f7259459aae55452d97793c3a2023-10-25T12:36:05ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032023-10-01101010.1098/rsos.231007Real-world implications of aphantasia: episodic recall of eyewitnesses with aphantasia is less complete but no less accurate than typical imagersCoral J. Dando0Zacharia Nahouli1Alison Hart2Zoe Pounder3Department of Psychology, School of Social Science, University of Westminster, London W1B 2HW, UKSchool of Psychology, University of Derby, Derby, UKDepartment of Psychology, School of Social Science, University of Westminster, London W1B 2HW, UKDepartment of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UKIndividuals with aphantasia report an inability to voluntarily visually image and reduced episodic memory, yet episodic accounts provided by witnesses and victims are fundamental for criminal justice. Using the mock-witness paradigm, we investigated eyewitness memory of individuals with aphantasia versus typical imagers. Participants viewed a mock crime and 48 hours later were interviewed about the event, randomly allocated to one of three conditions. Two interview conditions included techniques designed to support episodic retrieval mode, namely (i) Mental Reinstatement of Context (MRC) and (ii) Sketch Reinstatement of Context (Sketch-RC). A third Control condition did not include retrieval support. Aphantasic mock-eyewitnesses recalled 30% less correct information and accounts were less complete, but they made no more errors and were as accurate as typical imagers. Interaction effects revealed reduced correct recall and less complete accounts for aphantasic participants in MRC interviews versus Sketch-RC and Control. Aphantaisic participants in the Control outperformed those in both the Sketch-RC and MRC, although Sketch-RC improved completeness by 15% versus MRC. Our pattern of results indicates reduced mental imagery ability might be compensated for by alternative self-initiated cognitive strategies. Findings offer novel insights into episodic recall performance in information gathering interviews when ability to voluntarily visualize is impoverished.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.231007aphantasiaepisodic recalleyewitness memoryreinstatement of contextinvestigative interviews |
| spellingShingle | Coral J. Dando Zacharia Nahouli Alison Hart Zoe Pounder Real-world implications of aphantasia: episodic recall of eyewitnesses with aphantasia is less complete but no less accurate than typical imagers Royal Society Open Science aphantasia episodic recall eyewitness memory reinstatement of context investigative interviews |
| title | Real-world implications of aphantasia: episodic recall of eyewitnesses with aphantasia is less complete but no less accurate than typical imagers |
| title_full | Real-world implications of aphantasia: episodic recall of eyewitnesses with aphantasia is less complete but no less accurate than typical imagers |
| title_fullStr | Real-world implications of aphantasia: episodic recall of eyewitnesses with aphantasia is less complete but no less accurate than typical imagers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Real-world implications of aphantasia: episodic recall of eyewitnesses with aphantasia is less complete but no less accurate than typical imagers |
| title_short | Real-world implications of aphantasia: episodic recall of eyewitnesses with aphantasia is less complete but no less accurate than typical imagers |
| title_sort | real world implications of aphantasia episodic recall of eyewitnesses with aphantasia is less complete but no less accurate than typical imagers |
| topic | aphantasia episodic recall eyewitness memory reinstatement of context investigative interviews |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.231007 |
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