Eyewitness misinformation susceptibility across data collection contexts: comparing laboratory, online, and prolific participant responses

In recent years, many eyewitness memory studies have moved from face-to-face to online data collection. However, the impact of different data collection contexts on recall and misinformation susceptibility has not been investigated. We compared results from the same eyewitness experiment conducted in three different data collection contexts—in a laboratory, online with an unincentivised sample, and online with a paid sample recruited via Prolific. The Prolific group exhibited poorer recall accuracy than the Unincentivised Online and Laboratory groups, which did not significantly differ from each other. We also manipulated perceptual load in the eyewitness video to assess whether load effects would replicate across data collection contexts. High perceptual load reduced accuracy only for the Laboratory group. This provides initial evidence that data collection context may influence outcomes in eyewitness misinformation research. We urge researchers to exercise caution when selecting recruitment methods, as accuracy and experimental control likely vary across settings.