Eyewitnesses remember better with eyes closed, study finds

Eyewitnesses to crimes remember more accurate details when they close their eyes, according to research carried out by the University of Surrey.

The study, published today in the journal Legal and Criminology Psychology, found in addition that building a rapport with witnesses also helped them to remember more.

The findings are based on two studies involving 178 participants. In the first experiment, subjects watched a film depicting an electrician entering a property, carrying out jobs and stealing items. They were then asked a series of questions about the film. The team found that closing their eyes led participants to answer 23% more of the questions correctly. Building rapport also increased the number of correct answers; however, closing their eyes was effective regardless of whether rapport had been built or not.

In the second experiment, which took the memory task one step further, witnesses were asked about things they had heard, as well as things they had seen. This time, participants watched a clip from Crimewatch, showing a reconstruction of a burglary where an elderly man was attacked in his home. Results showed that closing their eyes helped participants recall both audio and visual details, both when they had built rapport and when they had not.

Across both experiments, participants who did not build rapport said they felt less comfortable when they closed their eyes, compared to when they kept their eyes open. In contrast, participants who built rapport felt more comfortable when they closed their eyes.

Lead author Dr Robert Nash from the University of Surrey commented: “Although closing your eyes to remember seems to work whether or not rapport has been built beforehand, our results show that building rapport makes witnesses more at ease with closing their eyes. That in itself is vital if we are to encourage witnesses to use this helpful technique during interviews.”