Bilingualism is a common experience worldwide, yet limited research is available on how the experience of learning and using two languages impacts eyewitness testimony. As international migration continues, bilingual witnesses will be increasingly common in the legal system. In this chapter, we first summarize findings on the cognitive, linguistic, and emotional correlates of bilingualism that influence the encoding, storage, and retrieval of autobiographical memories. We then discuss the forensic implications of this research including obtaining forensically relevant information, miscommunication during interviews, and biased perceptions of bilingual witnesses. We include specific recommendations for legal professionals tasked with interviewing bilingual witnesses. In the final section, we review the existing literature on bilingual witnesses and highlight future directions for research.

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Bilingual Eyewitnesses: Cognitive, Linguistic, and Emotional Factors Affecting Bilingual Memory

  • Christina O. Perez,
  • Yikang Zhang

摘要

Bilingualism is a common experience worldwide, yet limited research is available on how the experience of learning and using two languages impacts eyewitness testimony. As international migration continues, bilingual witnesses will be increasingly common in the legal system. In this chapter, we first summarize findings on the cognitive, linguistic, and emotional correlates of bilingualism that influence the encoding, storage, and retrieval of autobiographical memories. We then discuss the forensic implications of this research including obtaining forensically relevant information, miscommunication during interviews, and biased perceptions of bilingual witnesses. We include specific recommendations for legal professionals tasked with interviewing bilingual witnesses. In the final section, we review the existing literature on bilingual witnesses and highlight future directions for research.