The Impact of Attention on Eyewitness Identification and Change Blindness

Abstract

The current study investigated whether differences exist in eyewitness identification and change blindness when manipulating attention. 126 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either a full or divided attention group. Level of attention was found to be a significant predictor for accurate identification, χ2 (3, N = 126) = 1947, p .001. Additionally, there was a significant between-group difference on correct recall, t (115.46) = 4.24, p .001, and self-reported confidence in responses given, t (124) = 3.62, p .001. Level of attention was a non-significant predictor of participants’ detection of change (two-tailed Fisher exact p = .058). Results indicate that level of attention impacts on accurate eyewitness identification.

Keywords

• eyewitness identification
• change blindness
• attention
• divided attention
• recall