Memory accuracy of eyewitnesses in a case of rape: Effects of stereotypes and gender

The goal of this study is to explore the influence of stereotypes on the memory of eyewitnesses. In this study, boys and girls from secondary school (N = 101) observed a videotape depicting an encounter between a man and a woman who meet in a bar and ends with an attempted rape. Prior to viewing the film, they read a booklet in which the victim's occupation (airport receptionist/nightclub hostess) was manipulated to induce positive or negative expectations concerning the victim. After seeing the film, the participants were asked to recognize a scene they had actually seen in the video presented with two distractors: one presented the woman as provocative and the other one presented the woman as distant with the man. Results indicated that participants in the positive stereotype condition (airport receptionist) produced more false alarms on the distant distractor compared to the negative stereotype condition (nightclub hostess). We also observed that boys produced more false alarms on the distant distractor than girls. Implications for future research on testimony are discussed.