E-race-ing Memory: Potential Implications of Emotional Valence and the Own-Race Bias for Eyewitness Testimony

Abstract

Incorrect eyewitness testimony is a leading cause of wrongful convictions in the United States. Previous psychological research has established the Own-Race Bias (ORB) and the emotional valence of events as two factors that significantly affect eyewitness memory accuracy. However, examinations of the interaction between these two factors have been scarce. This thesis aimed to address this gap by investigating the effects of emotional valence (negative or neutral) and racial dynamic (own- or other-race) on eyewitness memory for faces and peripheral details of a simulated event. The effect of other-race contact on other-race facial recognition accuracy was also examined. Participants were 182 adults (60 Black/African American; 122 White/Caucasian) who completed a survey about their other-race interactions before viewing seven neutral slides and an eighth, critical, slide. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions in which they viewed emotional or neutral slides featuring a Black or White man. They were assessed on their identification of the man (the central detail) and the three peripheral details on the critical slides. Results yielded several key findings. Facial recognition accuracy was low across all experimental conditions, and both Black and White participants demonstrated a significant Own-Race Bias; however, emotional valence did not affect facial recognition accuracy. By contrast, memory for peripheral details was generally high and was not influenced by racial dynamic but was enhanced by negative emotional valence. These results could have implications for both our theoretical understanding of memory and our ability to evaluate the credibility of eyewitness testimony.

Keywords: eyewitness testimony, false memory, Own-Race Bias, emotional valence, contact hypothesis