Does experiencing inattentional blindness for crime influence eyewitness recall?

Witnesses may not notice crimes occurring when their attention is elsewhere, which may affect their memory. In this study, 174 participants completed an attention-demanding task while viewing a video containing an assault. Whether participants noticed the assault or experienced inattentional blindness for it was assessed. Then, participants were exposed to post-event information (containing misinformation) before completing a cued-recall task under one of three recall instructions (free, forced, or no instruction). Most participants experienced inattentional blindness for the assault (65.5%), which had a negative effect on recall, regardless of recall instruction. Specifically, participants who experienced inattentional blindness were less confident, complete, and accurate, and were more likely to report misinformation, than participants who noticed the crime. Witnesses who experienced inattentional blindness reported that they relied purely on post-event information to answer some questions. The findings suggest that caution should be taken when interviewing witnesses who have not paid attention to a crime.