The effects of visual imagery training on retrieval techniques in face recognition and alteration of memory traces

Abstract

Important decisions often rest on people's ability to recognize and/or recall an historical event, especially person identification through eyewitness testimony. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of visual imagery training on face recognition and resistance to memory trace alteration. It was proposed that training in visual imaging would increase accuracy in face recognition and also resistance to false information concerning four target persons. The 67 subjects (12 male and 55 female) who participated in this study were enrolled in two undergraduate level introductory educational psychology courses at Texas A&M University and were randomly assigned either to the training group or to the no training group. Each group attended a half-hour memory improvement session, either in visual imagery or in outlining techniques. Before participating in the assessment task, all subjects responded to one of two forms of a written questionnaire. One form contained false information imbedded in four questions concerning the targeted persons viewed earlier by the subjects and conveyed erroneous information about one aspect of face identification. Assessment focused on the subjects' ability to discriminate between two photographs of each target, one an accurate representation and one with a facial feature disguised or altered. Analysis of the data from this study revealed no differences between subjects trained in visual imagery and subjects not trained in both the accurate/altered version photographic choice and in the false/no false information condition.Recommendations include further research into the role of imagery in information processing, especially in the area of person identification. In addition, questions concerning the accuracy of memory must be raised, studied and reported in order to provide the information needed to make decisions concerning eyewitness reliability as fair and just as possible.