Recognition

This research is a first step towards investigating the impact verbal descriptions can have on an individual’s memory for actors performing actions. Previous research has found that verbal descriptions of mugshot-esque, face stimuli can have either a facilitative or inhibitory effect on later recognition. The current study implemented the Person Action Conjunction (PAC) test, along with three separate groups where participants provided descriptions of actions, features of the actors, and holistic attributes of the actors. The results demonstrated that the description group impacted the attention placed on either the action or actor, causing participants to remember those described elements more. Furthermore, it was found that accurately recalling descriptions provided at encoding was significantly and positively correlated with recognition performance. Further research is necessary with different control conditions before an impact of verbal description on the memory for actors and actions can be known.

Intrinsic motion pertains to the relative movements of a character’s body parts while mobile, while extrinsic motion pertains to those movements in relation to external landmarks. The current study aimed to explore whether the removal of identifiable features of a person (race and color of clothing) would force witnesses to move their focus to extrinsic motion. Previous studies regarding the concept of intrinsic and extrinsic motion have found that witnesses are more likely to encode intrinsic motion with the identity of a person, while extrinsic motion is encoded separately. This made it easier for participants to recognize an actor based on their manner of movement, rather than where the actor was initially seen. By silhouetting the actors and manipulating the background they were shown in later, the current study was able to identify a negative impact on recognition ability when actors were shown against a background they were not initially shown against while silhouetted. The implications of these results are discussed.