Voice Familiarity and Memory Accuracy: Advancing Earwitness Testimony through Online Experimental Evidence

Savithri K. K., Devika Shaju, Dr. H. Sylaja

Abstract: This study investigates the influence of voice familiarity on memory recall and recognition accuracy within forensic contexts. Despite substantial research on eyewitness testimony, earwitness memory remains underexplored. The study adopts a quasi-experimental design to examine how familiarity with a speaker?s voice affects auditory memory performance. Participants (N=30) were divided into an Experimental Group (familiar with the speaker's voice) and a Control Group (unfamiliar with the voice). Each group completed free recall, cued recall, and recognition tasks after exposure to pre-recorded audio clips. Findings reveal that voice familiarity significantly enhances free recall, cued recall, and recognition accuracy. Familiarity facilitates cognitive processing, leading to superior performance in the Experimental Group. Interestingly, confidence levels did not differ significantly between the groups. These results align with previous research emphasizing the role of familiarity in auditory memory but challenge assumptions about the confidence-accuracy relationship.

Keywords: Earwitness testimony, voice familiarity, auditory memory, cued recall, recognition accuracy, forensic psychology