Eyewitnesses’ cultural background may affect their reports. In this field study, we analysed 104 video-recorded eyewitness interviews conducted by the police in South Africa, one of the most multicultural societies in the world. Thematic analysis revealed six main cultural differences between three cultural groups of witnesses: (1) detail and specificity, (2) confidence in memory, (3) assertiveness during the interview, (4) justification of victimhood, (5) description of perpetrators, and (6) use of (sub)culturally specific terms and euphemisms. We will present example quotes and potential explanations. This study provides insight into cultural differences in eyewitness memory in a real-life, multicultural context.

Experimental evidence on cultural differences in eyewitness memory is still scarce. In a pre-registered experiment, we compared 32 Sub-Saharan African and 32 matched Western European mock eyewitnesses reporting about a crime video. Europeans provided significantly more details than Africans, yet the groups did not differ significantly in the number of words used in reporting their memories. An exploratory analysis revealed that Africans included more contextual details in their reports, such as moral evaluations, in line with high-context communication cultures. Our findings emphasize the importance of considering cultural differences in memory reports and provide insight into the underlying mechanisms.

Research shows that priming independent-interdependent self-construals may yield cognitive styles consistent with these cultural identities. This research aims to examine whether the modality of self-construal priming affects eyewitness memory. The self-construal (independent vs interdependent) of mock witnesses was primed using different modalities, prior to their account about a mock crime event. We expect that mock witnesses primed with an independent self-construal will report more person details, while those primed with an interdependent self-construal will report more social details. This research will allow us to explore the effectiveness of different cultural priming modalities on memory processes within an eyewitness context.

Investigators in multicultural societies interact with interviewees who might internalise more than one culture. Previous research showed that use of ‘instructive’ prompts that set expectations for informativeness (e.g., “Describe the perpetrator in enough detail that would enable someone to pick them out in a crowd”) in mock-witness accounts increased reporting relative to a control prompt (e.g., “Describe the perpetrator in detail”), at no cost to accuracy. The current replication tested both prompts in a new multicultural UK sample (N = 183) with a new stimulus. Findings across experiments will be discussed regarding the influence of cultural expectations on eyewitness reporting.

Professor Qi Wang will provide a critical synthesis of the presentations in connection with the larger field. She will highlight the theoretical, methodological, and practical issues in the study of eyewitness memory in the cultural context. Professor Wang will conclude with a discussion of important avenues for future research.