The impact of forensic delay: facilitating facial composite construction using an early-recall retrieval technique
Emma Portch, Charity Brown, Cristina Fodarella, Elizabeth Jackson, Peter Hancock, Colin Getty Tredoux, Michael B. Lewis, Chang Hong Liu, John Everett Marsh, William Blake Erickson, Nicholas Mitchell, Chiara Fasching, Linda Tran, Ellena Wood, Elaine A Damin, Leonie Robertshaw, James Michael Lampinen, Louisa Date, Spike Joyce, Leonie Brooks · Ergonomics · 2025
Memory for facial features deteriorates over time, diminishing one's ability to construct an accurate visual likeness of a face (i.e. a facial composite). In Experiment 1, we investigated how retention interval impacts composite construction. Participants recalled an unfamiliar face during a Cognitive Interview (CI) and constructed a feature composite across four post-encoding retention intervals. Correct composite naming declined sharply after a 3-4 hour retention interval, remained stable at two days, and dropped to floor-level after one week. Experiments 2-4 examined how composite effectiveness was influenced by the incorporation of two factors: (a) a novel, self-administered written face-recall attempt, conducted 3-4 hours after encoding, and (b) a standard or modified holistic recall elicited immediately before construction. Participant-witnesses created more identifiable likenesses when early recall was invited, suggesting that this intervention consolidated and enhanced access to facial-feature information. The addition of a character-based interview further improved both feature and holistic composites.