Prior studies suggest that building rapport with eyewitnesses can produce measurable recall improvements, but the underlying mechanisms of rapport’s possible effects on recall remain underexplored. The present study investigated two possible mechanisms for rapport’s impact: (1) improved working memory capacity and (2) increased benevolence. Participants (N = 105) viewed a mock theft video, followed by one of two possible pre-interview interactions: rapport-building or a control interaction. Next, participants completed measures of working memory, altruism, and benevolence (pre-interview and post-interview), before recalling details of the theft. Analyses revealed that, when controlling for the effects of the interaction duration and participants’ pre- and post-interview benevolence, rapport did not affect eyewitness recall directly. However, rapport building did increase benevolence measured after and associated with the substantive eyewitness interview, which in turn predicted more accurate and new details reported, and fewer subjective/other details reported. These findings support benevolence toward the interviewer as a mechanism behind rapport’s effect on eyewitness recall. Implications for investigative interviews in relation to benevolence and motivating reciprocation are discussed.

中文翻译：

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做一个好的见证人：仁慈和工作记忆能力在亲和对目击者记忆的影响中的作用

先前的研究表明，与目击者建立融洽关系可以产生可衡量的回忆改善，但融洽对回忆可能产生的影响的潜在机制仍未得到充分探索。本研究调查了融洽影响的两种可能机制：(1) 提高工作记忆能力和 (2) 增加仁慈。参与者 ( N  = 105) 观看了一个模拟盗窃视频，然后是两种可能的面试前互动之一：建立融洽关系或控制互动。接下来，参与者在回忆盗窃的细节之前完成了工作记忆、利他主义和仁慈的测量（采访前和采访后）。分析表明，当控制互动持续时间和参与者的采访前后善意的影响时，融洽确实不直接影响目击者回忆。然而，建立融洽关系确实增加了在实质性目击者访谈之后衡量并与之相关的仁慈，这反过来预测了更准确和新的细节报道，以及更少的主观/其他细节报道。这些发现支持对采访者的仁慈，这是融洽关系对目击者回忆的影响背后的机制。讨论了与仁慈和激励回报相关的调查访谈的含义。