CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 30Memory Processes and InfluencesDeception detection and forensic psychologyCognitive Functions and Memory

The effects of stress on eyewitness memory: A survey of memory experts and laypeople

Open access
Marr, Carey, Otgaar, Henry, Sauerland, Melanie, Quaedflieg, Conny W. E. M., Hope, Lorraine·2021·Memory & Cognition
DOI 10.3758/s13421-020-01115-4PMC PMC8024237
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

This survey examined lay and expert beliefs about statements concerning stress effects on (eyewitness) memory. Thirty-seven eyewitness memory experts, 36 fundamental memory experts, and 109 laypeople endorsed, opposed, or selected don’t know responses for a range of statements relating to the effects of stress at encoding and retrieval. We examined proportions in each group and differences between groups (eyewitness memory experts vs. fundamental memory experts; experts vs. laypeople) for endorsements (agree vs. disagree) and selections (don’t know vs. agree/disagree). High proportions of experts from both research fields agreed that very high levels of stress impair the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. A majority of fundamental experts, but not eyewitness experts, endorsed the idea that stress experienced during encoding can enhance memory. Responses to statements regarding moderating factors such as stressor severity and detail type provided further insight into this discrepancy. Eyewitness memory experts more frequently selected the don’t know option for neuroscientific statements regarding stress effects on memory than fundamental memory experts, although don’t know selections were substantial among both expert groups. Laypeople’s responses to eight of the statements differed statistically from expert answers on topics such as memory in children, in professionals such as police officers, for faces and short crimes, and the existence of repression, providing insight into possible ‘commonsense’ beliefs on stress effects on memory. Our findings capture the current state of knowledge about stress effects on memory as reflected by sample of experts and laypeople, and highlight areas where further research and consensus would be valuable.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3758/s13421-020-01115-4

Cites

12 of 12 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • In a recent survey, 78% of 36 fundamental memory experts agreed that experiencing stress during an event enhances memory for that event, whereas only 32% of 37 eyewitness experts agreed.

    “78% of 36 fundamental memory experts agreed with the general statement that Experiencing stress during an event (i.e., at encoding) enhances memory for that event , whereas only 32% of 37 eyewitness experts agreed with this statement (Marr et al., 2020).”

    From The effects of acute stress on eyewitness memory: An integrative review for eyewitness researchers (2021) · cites this paper as Marr et al., 2020

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 72

  1. Abercrombie HC Kalin NH Thurow ME Rosenkranz MA Davidson RJ Cortisol variation in humans affects memory for emotionally laden and neutral information Behavioral Neuroscience 2003 117 3 505 516 10.1037/0735-7044.117.3.505 12802879 · DOI · Paper page
  2. Akhtar S Kalin NH Thurow ME Rosenkranz MA Davidson MA The ‘common sense’ memory belief system and its implications The International Journal of Evidence & Proof 2018 22 3 289 304 10.1177/1365712718784045 · DOI
  3. Bailis KL Mueller JH Anxiety, feedback, and self-reference in face recognition Motivation and Emotion 1981 5 1 85 96 10.1007/bf00993664 · DOI
  4. Becker D One nation under stress: The trouble with stress as an idea 2013 Oxford, UK Oxford University Press
  5. Bornstein BH Hullman G Miller MK Miller MK Bornstein BH Stress, trauma, and wellbeing in the legal system: Where do we go from here? Stress, trauma, and wellbeing in the legal system 2013 Oxford, UK Oxford University Press 293 309
  6. Bornstein BH O’Bryant S Zickafoose D Intuitions about arousal and eyewitness memory: Effects on mock jurors’ judgments Law & Psychology Review 2008 32 109 133
  7. Bornstein BH Robicheaux TR Methodological issues in the study of eyewitness memory and arousal Creighton Law Review 2009 42 525 547
  8. Brigham JC Maass A Martinez D Wittenberger G The effect of arousal on facial recognition Basic and Applied Social Psychology 1983 4 3 279 93 10.1207/s15324834basp0403_6 · DOI · Paper page
  9. Buckhout R Alper A Chern S Silverberg G Slomovits M Determinants of eyewitness performance on a lineup Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 1974 4 3 191 192 10.3758/bf03334241 · DOI · Paper page
  10. Cahill L Gorski L Le K Enhanced human memory consolidation with post-learning stress: Interaction with the degree of arousal at encoding Learning & Memory 2003 10 4 270 274 10.1101/lm.62403 12888545 PMC202317 · DOI · Paper page
  11. Christianson S-A Loftus EF Memory for traumatic events Applied Cognitive Psychology 1987 1 4 225 239 10.1002/acp.2350010402 · DOI
  12. Clifford BR Hollin CR Effects of the type of incident and the number of perpetrators on eyewitness memory Journal of Applied Psychology 1981 66 3 364 370 10.1037/0021-9010.66.3.364 · DOI
  13. Davis SD Peterson DJ Wissman KT Slater WA Physiological stress and face recognition: Differential effects of stress on accuracy and the confidence–accuracy relationship Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition 2019 8 367 375 10.1016/j.jarmac.2019.05.006 · DOI · Paper page
  14. de Kloet ER Oitzl MS Joëls M Stress and cognition: Are corticosteroids good or bad guys? Trends in Neurosciences 1999 22 10 422 426 10.1016/S0166-2236(99)01438-1 10481183 · DOI · Paper page
  15. de Quervain DJ-F Henke K Aerni A Treyer V McGaugh JL Berthold T Hock C Glucocorticoid-induced impairment of declarative memory retrieval is associated with reduced block flow in the medial temporal lobe European Journal of Neuroscience 2003 17 6 1296 1302 10.1046/j.1460-9568.2003.02542.x 12670318 · DOI · Paper page
  16. de Quervain DJ-F Roozendaal B Nitsch RM McGaugh JL Hock C Acute cortisone administration impairs retrieval of long-term declarative memory in humans Nature Neuroscience 2000 3 4 313 314 10.1038/73873 10725918 · DOI · Paper page
  17. Deffenbacher KA Loftus EF Do jurors share a common understanding concerning eyewitness behavior? Law and Human Behavior 1982 6 1 15 30 10.1007/BF01049310 · DOI
  18. Dellapaolera, K. S. (2019). How does stress at time of identification affect eyewitness memory? (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global database. (ProQuest No. 22582828)
  19. Fawcett JM Fawcett E Peace KA Christie J Of guns and geese: A meta-analytic review of the ‘weapon focus’ literature Psychology, Crime, & Law 2013 19 1 35 66 10.1080/10683166X.2011.599325 · DOI
  20. Gagnon SA Wagner AD Acute stress and episodic memory: Neurobiological mechanisms and behavioral consequences Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2016 1369 1 55 75 10.1111/nyas.12996 26799371 · DOI
  21. Golding JM Sanchez RP Sego SA Do you believe in repressed memories? Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 1996 27 5 429 437 10.1037/0735-7028.27.5.429 · DOI
  22. Hellhammer J Schubert M The physiological response to Trier Social Stress Test relates to subjective measures of stress during but not before or after the test Psychoneuroendocrinology 2012 37 1 119 124 10.1016/jpsyneuen.2011.05.012 21689890 · DOI
  23. Hidalgo V Pulopulos MM Salvador A Acute psychosocial stress effects on memory performance: Relevance of age and sex Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 2019 157 48 60 10.1016/j.nlm.2018.11.013 30503729 · DOI
  24. Holm S A simple sequentially rejective multiple test procedure Scandinavian Journal of Statistics 1979 6 2 65 70 10.2307/4615733 · DOI
  25. Hope L Evaluating the effects of stress and fatigue on police officer response and recall: A challenge for research, training, practice and policy Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition 2016 5 3 239 245 10.1016/j.jarmac.2016.07.008 · DOI
  26. Hosch HM Bothwell RK Arousal, description and identification accuracy of victims and bystanders Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 1990 5 5 481 488
  27. Hoscheidt SM LaBar KS Ryan L Jacobs WJ Nadel L Encoding negative events under stress: High subjective arousal is related to accurate emotional memory despite misinformation exposure Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 2014 112 237 247 10.1016/j.nlm.2013.09.008 24055594 · DOI · Paper page
  28. Hulse LM Memon A Fatal impact? The effects of emotional arousal and weapon presence on police officers’ memories for a simulated crime Legal and Criminological Psychology 2006 11 2 313 325 10.1348/135532505X58062 · DOI · Paper page
  29. Joëls M Baram TZ The neuro-symphony of stress Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2009 10 6 459 466 10.1038/nrn2632 19339973 PMC2844123 · DOI · Paper page
  30. Joëls M Fernández G Roozendaal B Stress and emotional memory: A matter of timing Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2011 15 6 280 288 10.1016/j.tics.2011.04.004 21571575 · DOI
  31. Joëls M Pu Z Wiegert O Oitzl MS Krugers HJ Learning under stress: How does it work? Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2006 10 4 152 158 10.1016/j.tics.2006.02.002 16513410 · DOI · Paper page
  32. Kassin SM Eyewitness identification: Victims versus bystanders Journal of Applied Social Psychology 1984 14 6 519 529 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1984.tb02257.x · DOI
  33. Kassin SM Barndollar KA The psychology of eyewitness testimony: A comparison of experts and prospective jurors Journal of Applied Social Psychology 1992 22 16 1241 1249 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1992.tb00948.x · DOI
  34. Kassin SM Ellsworth PC Smith VL The ‘general acceptance’ of psychological research on eyewitness testimony: A survey of the experts American Psychologist 1989 44 8 1089 1098 10.1037/0003-066X.44.8.1089 · DOI · Paper page
  35. Kassin SM Tubb VA Hosch HM Memon A On the ‘general acceptance’ of eyewitness testimony research: A new survey of the experts American Psychologist 2001 56 5 405 416 10.1037/0003-066X.56.5.405 11355363 · DOI
  36. Kees J Berry C Burton S Sheehan K An analysis of data quality: Professional panels, student subject pools, and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk Journal of Advertising 2017 46 1 141 155 10.1080/00913367.2016.1269304 · DOI · Paper page
  37. Kirschbaum C Pirke K-M Hellhammer DH The ‘Trier Social Stress Test’: A tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting Neuropsychobiology 1993 28 1/2 76 81 10.1159/000119004 8255414 · DOI · Paper page
  38. Kramer TH Buckhout R Eugenio P Weapon focus, arousal, and eyewitness memory: Attention must be paid Law and Human Behavior 1990 14 2 167 184 10.2307/1393597 · DOI
  39. Kuhlmann S Piel M Wolf OT Impaired memory retrieval after psychosocial stress in healthy young men The Journal of Neuroscience 2005 25 11 2977 2982 10.1523/jneurosci.5139-04-2005 15772357 PMC6725125 · DOI
  40. Lanciano T Curci A Memories for emotional events: The accuracy of central and peripheral details Europe’s Journal of Psychology 2011 7 2 323 336 10.5964/ejop.v7i2.132 · DOI
  41. Loftus, E. F. (1979). Eyewitness testimony. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  42. Loftus EF Loftus GR Messo J Some facts about “weapon focus” Law and Human Behavior 1987 11 1 55 62 10.1007/BF01044839 · DOI
  43. Lupien SJ Maheu F Tu M Ficco A Schramek TE The effects of stress and stress hormones on human cognition: Implications for the field of brain and cognition Brain and Cognition 2007 65 3 209 237 10.1016/j.bandc.2007.02.007 17466428 · DOI · Paper page
  44. Magnussen S Melinder A Stridbeck U Raja A Beliefs about factors affecting the reliability of eyewitness testimony: A comparison of judges, jurors and the general public Applied Cognitive Psychology 2010 24 1 122 133 10.1002/acp.1550 · DOI
  45. Metcalfe J Brezler JC McNamara J Malette G Vuorre M Memory, stress, and the hippocampal hypothesis: Firefighters’ recollections of the fireground Hippocampus 2019 29 12 1141 1149 10.1002/hipo.23128 31254433 · DOI · Paper page
  46. Noon E Hollin CR Lay knowledge of eyewitness behaviour: A British survey Applied Cognitive Psychology 1987 1 2 143 153 10.1002/acp.2350010207 · DOI
  47. Otgaar H Howe ML Patihis L Merckelbach H Lynn SJ Lilienfeld SO Loftus EF The return of the repressed: The persistent and problematic claims of long-forgotten trauma Perspectives on Psychological Science 2019 14 6 1072 1095 10.1177/1745691619862306 31584864 PMC6826861 · DOI
  48. Quaedflieg CWEM Schwabe L Memory dynamics under stress Memory 2018 26 3 364 376 10.1080/09658211.2017.1338299 28625108 · DOI
  49. Read JD Desmarais SL Lay knowledge of eyewitness issues: A Canadian evaluation Applied Cognitive Psychology 2009 23 3 301 326 10.1002/acp.1459 · DOI
  50. Robbins TW Cortical noradrenaline, attention and arousal Psychological Medicine 1984 14 13 21 10.1017/s0033291700003032 6709778 · DOI
  51. Robicheaux, T. R. (2016). Stress and eyewitness memory: Timing of stressor and association with cortisol stress responding (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved from Dissertation Abstracts International. (Accession No. 2016-26518-083)
  52. Roozendaal B Stress and memory: Opposing effects of glucocorticoids on memory consolidation and memory retrieval Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 2002 78 3 578 595 10.1006/nlme.2002.4080 12559837 · DOI · Paper page
  53. Schönfeld P Ackermann K Schwabe L Remembering under stress: Different roles of autonomic arousal and glucocorticoids in memory retrieval Psychoneuroendocrinology 2014 39 1 249 256 10.1016/j.psychneuen.2013.09.020 24139625 · DOI
  54. Schwabe L Bohringer A Chatterjee M Schachinger H Effects of prelearning stress on memory for neutral, positive, and negative words: Differential roles of cortisol and autonomic arousal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 2008 90 1 44 53 10.1016/j.nlm.2008/02.002 18334304 · DOI
  55. Schwabe L Joëls M Roozendaal B Wolf OT Oitzl MS Stress effects on memory: An update and integration Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 2012 36 7 1740 1749 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.07.002 21771612 · DOI · Paper page
  56. Schwabe L Wolf OT Timing matters: Temporal dynamics of stress effects on memory retrieval Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 2014 14 3 1041 1048 10.3758/s13415-014-0256-0 24492994 · DOI
  57. Shermohammed M Davidow JY Somerville LH Murty VP Stress impacts the fidelity but not strength of emotional memories Brain and Cognition 2019 133 33 41 10.1016/j.bandc.2018.09.001 30268338 PMC6435439 · DOI
  58. Shields GS Stress and cognition: A user’s guide to designing and interpreting studies Psychoneuroendocrinology 2020 112 104475 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.104475 31810538 · DOI · Paper page
  59. Shields GS Sazma MA McCullough AM Yonelinas AP The effects of acute stress on episodic memory: A meta-analysis and integrative review Psychological Bulletin 2017 143 6 636 675 10.1037/bul0000100 28368148 PMC5436944 · DOI · Paper page
  60. Simons DJ Chabris CF What people believe about how memory works: A representative survey of the U.S. population PLOS ONE 2011 6 8 e22757 10.1371/journal.pone.0022757 21826204 PMC3149610 · DOI
  61. Smeets T Giesbrecht T Jelicic M Merckelbach H Context-dependent enhancement of declarative memory performance following acute psychosocial stress Biological Psychology 2007 76 1/2 116 123 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2007.07.001 17689852 · DOI · Paper page
  62. Smith AM Dijkstra K Gordon LT Romero M Thomas AK An investigation into the impact of acute stress on encoding in older adults Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition 2019 26 5 749 766 10.1080/13825585.2018.1524438 30278810 · DOI
  63. Stanny CJ Johnson TC Effects of stress induced by a simulated shooting on recall by police and citizen witnesses The American Journal of Psychology 2000 113 3 359 386 10.2307/1423364 10997233 · DOI
  64. Thomas AK Karanian JM Acute stress, memory, and the brain Brain and Cognition 2019 133 1 4 10.1016/j.bandc.2019.04.004 31078360 · DOI
  65. Ulrich-Lai YM Herman JP Neural regulation of endocrine and autonomic stress responses Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2009 10 6 397 409 10.1038/nrn2647 19469025 PMC4240627 · DOI · Paper page
  66. Valentine T Mesout J Eyewitness identification under stress in the London Dungeon Applied Cognitive Psychology 2008 23 2 151 161 10.1002/acp.1463 · DOI · Paper page
  67. Wessel I van der Kooy P Merckelbach H Differential recall of central and peripheral details of emotional slides is not a stable phenomenon Memory 2000 8 2 95 109 10.1080/096582100387641 10829126 · DOI
  68. Wolf OT Stress and memory retrieval: Mechanisms and consequences Current Opinions in Behavioral Sciences 2017 14 40 46 10.1016/cobeha.2016.12.001 · DOI
  69. Yarmey AD Jones HPT Lloyd-Bostock S Clifford BR Is the psychology of eyewitness identification a matter of common sense? Evaluating witness evidence 1983 Chichester, England Wiley 13 40
  70. Yerkes, R. M., & Dodson, J. D. (1908). The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit formation. Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology, 18(5), 459–482. 10.1002/cne.920180503 · DOI · Paper page
  71. Yuille JC Cutshall JL A case study of eyewitness memory of a crime Journal of Applied Psychology 1986 71 291 301 10.1037/0021-9010.71.2.291 3722079 · DOI
  72. Zoladz PR Clark B Warnecke A Smith L Tabar J Talbot JN Prelearning stress differentially affects long-term memory for emotional words, depending on temporal proximity to the learning experience Physiology & Behavior 2011 103 5 467 476 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.01.016 21262248 · DOI · Paper page

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Marr, C., Otgaar, H., Sauerland, M., Quaedflieg, C. W. E. M., & Hope, L.
Affiliations
  • Maastricht University (NL)
  • University of Portsmouth (GB)
Corresponding author
Marr, Carey
ORCID
Venue
Memory & Cognition
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2020-11-25
Volume
49
Issue
3
Pages
401-421
ISSN
  • 0090-502X (ISSN-L)
  • 1532-5946
DOI
10.3758/s13421-020-01115-4
PMC
PMC8024237
OpenAlex
W3107059500
Cited by
30
References
12
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 7
FWCI
2.55
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Memory & Cognition (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Lirias (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate Programme The House of Legal Psychology (FPA 2013-0036, SGA 532473-EM-5-2017-1-NL-ERA MUNDU)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Deception detection and forensic psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
Keywords
stress, eyewitness memory, memory encoding, memory retrieval, lay beliefs, expert beliefs, repression, stressor severity, face memory, police officers
MeSH terms
Adult, Australia, Canada, Child, Crime, Female, Humans, Male, Memory, Surveys and Questionnaires

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review