Visual learning: the effect of sketching on recall of a witness' account

Abstract

The impact of sketching on memory for details of an account was examined across three experiments. In Experiment 1, participants (N = 84) were provided with an account of a robbery that was delivered either in an audio-visual sketch or an audio-only format, and asked to recall the account. In Experiment 2, participants (N = 116) were provided with an account regarding an assault that varied in length (5-minutes, 10-minutes, 15-minutes) and was presented in either audio-visual sketch or audio-only format. In Experiment 3, participants (N = 173) were provided with an account of an emergency medical situation that varied in presentation modality (audio-only, static sketch, hybrid sketch, dynamic sketch) and were either given the opportunity to have access to the sketch during recall or not have access to the sketch during recall. The results of the three experiments showed that participants provided with audio-visual sketch information outperformed participants provided with audio-only information. Experiment 2 revealed that short accounts are remembered better than longer accounts. Experiment 3 showed that dynamic visual information was remembered better than static visual information or audio-only information. In addition, Experiment 3 showed that having access to the sketch while recalling the account is less important as the mobility of the sketch increases. The utility of sketching as a viable learning mechanism for investigative interviewers is discussed.