Fatal impact? The effects of emotional arousal and weapon presence on police officers' memories for a simulated crime

Author: Hulse, Lynn M. / Memon, Amina
Publication: Legal & Criminological Psychology
Topics: Crime Law Enforcement
Keywords: CRIME EMOTIONS MEMORY SIMULATION methods police officers
Bibliographic information +

In order to investigate the effects of emotional arousal and weapon presence on the completeness and accuracy of police officers’ memories, 70 police officers were shown either a simulated domestic dispute portraying a shooting or a simulated domestic dispute containing no weapons. The officers’ heart rates were monitored to gauge overall state of anxiety. Participants were interviewed about the events they witnessed after the simulation. The shooting induced greater arousal than did the other scenario according to self-report measures. Overall, officers’ memories for the event were less complete, but more accurate, when they had witnessed the shooting.