T. Lindholm et al., POLICE OFFICERS AND CIVILIANS AS WITNESSES - INTERGROUP BIASES AND MEMORY PERFORMANCE, Applied cognitive psychology, 11(5), 1997, pp. 431-444
To compare police officers and civilians with respect to intergroup bi
ases and memory performance in a witness situation, two versions of a
film with a simulated, violent robbery were shown to experienced polic
e officers and civilians (university students and police recruits). Th
e perpetrator was either an immigrant or a native Swede. Results showe
d that the police officers were less ethnocentric in their evaluations
of the perpetrator than the civilians. Moreover, police officers show
ed higher accuracy in their recollections of crime-relevant informatio
n in the film. It is suggested that police officers' knowledge of, and
experience with, crime incidents helps them to sort out the relevant
information in the situation, and this in turn enhances their memory f
or crime-relevant information. Policing experience may also result in
reduced levels of psychological stress, giving police officers more ro
om to form an individuated, rather than stereotypic, interpretation of
the perpetrator's behaviour. Alternatively, it may be that police off
icers have become aware of biasing effects in the presence of outgroup
members, and due to the social disapprobation such ethnocentric react
ions can elicit, are more motivated to avoider inhibit such expression
s than civilians. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.