Effects of stress induced by a simulated shooting on recall by police and citizen witnesses

Two experiments address the accuracy of citizen and police witnesses in rec alling stressful events. Participants saw 2 training scenarios. Experiment 1 evaluated the effects of active engagement and the presence of a simulate d shooting on police officers' memory for details. Police officers recalled significantly fewer details from the scenario in which a shooting occurred . Active engagement did not influence recall. Experiment 2 compared the mem ory performance of police and citizen witnesses. Manipulation checks were a dded to assess the arousal produced by a shooting, and control procedures w ere added to evaluate the memorability of specific scenarios. Police and ci tizen witnesses did not differ reliably in accuracy. The perpetrator was re membered less well than the weapon when a simulated shooting occurred, and one scenario was significantly more difficult to remember than the other. T he need to replicate eyewitness research with a variety of materials is dis cussed.