The Dynamic and Fragile Nature of Eyewitness Memory Formation: Considering Stress and Attention

Wulff, Alia N.; Thomas, Ayanna K. · 2021 · Crossref

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.666724

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Summary

This review examines the dynamic and fragile nature of eyewitness memory formation, specifically focusing on the interplay between attentional failures and acute stress. The authors argue that while much research has focused on retrieval processes and post-event misinformation, the initial encoding of events is equally critical and often compromised by attentional deficits. The paper addresses a significant gap in the literature: the lack of studies investigating how acute stress influences attentional processes, particularly inattentional blindness, during eyewitness scenarios. The authors contend that understanding this relationship is essential for assessing the reliability of eyewitness testimony, as witnesses often experience high levels of stress and distraction during crimes. The paper synthesizes existing literature on inattentional blindness—the failure to notice unexpected events in a complex visual field when attention is engaged elsewhere. It reviews laboratory experiments, such as the famous "gorilla" study, and applied settings involving drivers, radiologists, military personnel, and police officers. These studies demonstrate that inattentional blindness occurs frequently, even among experts and when the missed stimuli are highly relevant or dangerous. For instance, radiologists missed a hidden gorilla in lung scans at rates similar to non-experts, and police officers frequently missed a gun displayed on a dashboard during simulated traffic stops. The review also examines how emotional arousal affects attention, noting that threatening stimuli (e.g., spiders, guns) are more likely to be noticed than neutral ones, though this effect can be negated by high perceptual load. A key finding is the discrepancy between eyewitness memory researchers and basic memory experts regarding the impact of stress on memory encoding. While basic memory experts often suggest stress may enhance memory, eyewitness researchers typically find it impairs accuracy. The authors highlight that few studies have used validated stress induction techniques to isolate the effects of acute stress on attention. Consequently, there is no direct evidence on how acute stress influences inattentional blindness. The review suggests that inattentional blindness is not merely a failure of seeing or immediate forgetting (inattentional amnesia), but rather a lack of explicit awareness, potentially involving unconscious perception. The significance of this review lies in its call for improved methodological rigor in eyewitness research. The authors conclude that future studies must tease apart the independent contributions of arousal and stress on attentional failures. By integrating applied literature on attentional failures with research on stress and arousal, the paper aims to inform a more nuanced understanding of eyewitness reliability. It emphasizes that attentional failures at encoding can lead to significant memory distortions and that current research has not adequately addressed how the physiological stress response, common in crime victims and witnesses, impacts the ability to attend to and encode critical event details.

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• inattentional change blindness