Testimony in a Social Setting

Abstract

80 students aged 19–24 years served as unpaid subjects. Each of them looked at one I9-sec. silent film showing a riot which actually occurred in an Italian stadium after a soccer match. Subjects made a verbal tape-recorded report immediately after having observed the scene. Subjects were divided into two groups of equal numbers. The subjects of the single group viewed the scene individually and individually made their reports. The subjects of the pair group viewed the film in pairs and simultaneously made their reports to two different experimenters in two contiguous rooms separated by a glass wall. Reports were analyzed using the Musatti method (integrated with the Zaretti method). The analysis showed that the reports of the subjects in pairs were more reliable, presenting a significantly smaller number of false elements. The effect is attributed to the different social situation. Subjects who are aware that their reports could be compared with that of another subject are presumably more cautious and avoid inserting doubtful elements.