Purpose Closing the eyes during recall can help witnesses remember more about a witnessed event. This study examined the effectiveness of eye‐closure in a repeated recall paradigm with immediate free recall followed 1 week later by both free and cued recall. We examined whether eye‐closure was more or less effective during the second free‐recall attempt compared with the first, whether eye‐closure during the first recall attempt had an impact on subsequent free‐ and cued‐recall performance, and whether eye‐closure during the second free recall could facilitate the recall of new, previously unreported, information (reminiscence).

Method Participants witnessed a videotaped event and participated in a first free‐recall attempt (with eyes open or closed) a few minutes later. After a week, they provided another free recall, followed by a cued‐recall interview (with eyes open or closed).

Results Eye‐closure during the first free‐recall attempt had no significant effect on performance during any of the recall attempts. However, eye‐closure during the second session increased the amount of correct visual information reported in that session by 36.7% in free recall and by 35.3% in cued recall, without harming testimonial accuracy. Crucially, eye‐closure also facilitated the recall of new, previously unreported visual information.