INVESTIGACIÓN
Hernández–García, B. & Rico–Sulayes, A. Entorno UDLAP, núm. 21, 14–27, septiembre 2023
Efectos del soporte audiovisual en el recuento literal de narrativas. Implicaciones para el testimonio de testigos de hechos vistos y oídos
memory recall of narratives
Implications for eyewitness and earwitness testimony By:
Bessy Janine Hernández García · Antonio Rico Sulayes
Hernández García, B. J. y Rico Sulayes, A. (2023). Effects of audiovisual support on verbatim memory recall of narratives. Implications for eyewitness and earwitness testimony. Entorno UDLAP, 21 Recibido: 30 de mayo de 2023 Aceptado: 12 de octubre de 2023
ABSTRACT
Verbatim memory can be crucial for testifying at a criminal court case, especially in situations in which the exact words are decisive to characterize or even define a potential crime. Since witnessing conditions may affect this type of memory, this raises the question of whether the exposure to narratives along with visual support, rather than just auditory information, may affect verbatim memory performance. Therefore, we have applied an instrument to evaluate these conditions in a group of participants. Our results show that there is a drastic difference in the precision of verbatim memory when narratives are presented with visual support, compared to narratives in an auditory-only format. The former reaches precision rates over 2.3 times larger, for a much more challenging stimulus over 3.2
times longer. These findings are relevant for the criminal justice system since an eyewitness’ testimony on verbatim speech has been proven to be more reliable than that of a witness without visual support.
KEYWORDS:
Forensic linguistics · Verbatim recall · Testimony precision
RESUMEN
La memoria literal puede ser crucial al testificar en corte durante un caso criminal, especialmente en situaciones en las que las palabras exactas son decisivas para caracterizar o incluso definir un crimen potencial. Como las condiciones en que alguien es testigo podrían afectar este tipo de memoria, esto nos plantea la pregunta de si la exposición a narrativas acompañadas de so-
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Effects of audiovisual support on verbatim