Accurate Second Guesses in Misinformation Studies

This article was widely discussed in our class session on the role of post-event information on eyewitness memory. The authors of the article argue that second guesses can help to get accurate information that was blocked on their first response due to misinformation. The first thing that comes to mind from reading the article regards the author’s justification that counterbalancing was not used due to the difficulty in implementing a counterbalancing sequence. This may be the case, but I tend to lean toward using methodology that is compatible with the use of counterbalancing. It is difficult to isolate which effects are due to which experimental manipulations without adequate counterbalancing. Another issue brought up in class was the choice of variation between the original items and the misinformation items used. Some of the misinformation was so similar to the original item in terms of object characteristics (e.g., color) that you really can’t be sure if their inaccuracies in recalling the item was due to the misinformation effect or simply the way they encoded the item. They may have perceived it to be black instead of brown or perhaps they blended the different colors together, which is possible when using opponent colors for original and as misinformation items. It seems as though the second guess may have retrieved some accurate information if the original item was encoded, but the misinformation research in general seems to suggest that second guesses are a bad idea because of what we know from post-event information and misinformation effects. Thus, a more efficient course of examination for this type of research would to examine how to limit post-information between identification and confidence and also from right after the witness views a crime until they are asked to make an ID from a lineup. So, perhaps examining the efficacy of training programs for all of those involved in the process (e.g., EMS, 911 dispatch, etc) might be a more fruitful type of inquiry regarding post-event information. If people adhere to protocols known to be effective in reducing or limiting the amount of information that could alter the accuracy of eyewitness memory, potentially large benefits could result.
DJP