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The condition of closing your eyes could lead you into the false belief that you remember something you never saw. A number of studies researched, prior to this experiment, the formation of false memories; and the impact of closing one’s eyes on someone’s memory. The goals of this study were to settle any disagreements on the subject and to combine both points of interest in one single experiment. We investigated the effect of eye-closure on the formation of false memories. We placed the object of our study into context; explained what our main objectives were in conducting this research, how the experiment was conducted, and what we found after careful analysis of our results. Students aged between 18 and 35 years old were shown a video of a crime, and were then read a false testimony. Finally, they were asked 15 questions about the video they had just seen. Students were divided into two groups. The first group was the control group, participants of which kept their eyes open during the entire process. The second group was the eye-closure group, of which participants closed their eyes during the misinformation and the memory test. Participants who closed their eyes showed to be significantly more influenced by the misinformation than participants who did not, but only with regards to the recollection of false peripheral information. Hence, eye-closure seems to elevate false memory rates for peripheral details. Our findings are relevant in elucidating whether eye closure might be a good tactic to be used in interview settings. Our study suggests that the police should not encourage eye-closure during witness interrogations.

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Criminal law. Criminal procedure --- Belgium