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Exploring cultural differences in eyewitness accounts using a self-administered reporting technique.

Hope, L., Kontogianni, F., Rechdan, J., Tavitian-Emladjian, L., Soubra, N. A., Abu Marak Brome, D. M., Gibson, V. and Anakwah, N., 2023. Exploring cultural differences in eyewitness accounts using a self-administered reporting technique. Psychology, Crime and Law. (In Press)

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DOI: 10.1080/1068316X.2023.2279330

Abstract

In a globalised world, investigators often interact with witnesses from diverse cultural backgrounds. To date, there is a wealth of research on the use of evidence-based practices to facilitate recall and reporting in information elicitation contexts. However, research has been primarily conducted with participants from western (and typically individualistic) cultural contexts, ignoring the potential effects of cultural communication norms on memory reporting among other factors. We compared reports provided by two samples that contrast on the individualist-collectivist dimension (UK vs Lebanon). Participants (N = 118) witnessed a staged crime event and provided an account (in their native language) using a self-administered Timeline Technique or a Free Recall format, before responding to cued recall questions. As in previous research, UK participants reported more correct information when using the Timeline Technique compared to free recall. Contrary to hypotheses, participants in Lebanon provided a similar amount of information across reporting format conditions. Overall, Lebanese participants provided fewer correct details both in spontaneous self-administered reporting formats and in cued recall, compared to their UK counterparts. These findings have implications for information-gathering practices in cross-cultural interactions and highlight the (potential) need to modify existing techniques for different cultural contexts.

Item Type:Article
ISSN:1068-316X
Uncontrolled Keywords:Culture; interviewing; self-administered interview; timeline technique; cross-cultural communication; eyewitness memory
Group:Faculty of Science & Technology
ID Code:39288
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:19 Dec 2023 15:00
Last Modified:21 Nov 2024 01:08

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