EYE WITNESS MEMORY

Misperception of Eye Witness Memory: Why Eye Witness Testimony is Unreliable

[Rajosri Datta]

[Carleton university]

Abstract

In the past few decades, the reliability of eye witness memory has been called into question. The reasons are the great number of exonerations by DNA evidence in cases where inaccurate eye witness testimony had played a major part in the conviction of the defendant. In this paper, several variables like (emotional state, emotional elaboration, co-witness contamination, instructions, feedback, misinformation, repeated questioning, and type of line-up, time delay and out of order questioning) will be considered in order to demonstrate that eye witness testimony can be unreliable evidence in a judicial setting. Furthermore, the effects of false evidence (Wade, Green & Nash, 2010) or misinformation (Bonham & González-Vallejo, 2009) on memory accuracy and the creation of false memories have been examined. In addition, the effect of time between the event and interview of the witness has been inspected, in terms of how it affects the accuracy of memory and suggestibility to misinformation (Bonham & González-Vallejo, 2009). The sequence in which memories are retrieved ((Paz-Alonso & Goodman, 2008) and whether they are retrieved in part or in full (Migueles & García-Bajos, 2007) can also affect accuracy and completeness of memory and thus will also be examined.

The final factor assessed in this paper is one that can be argued to be either a system or estimator variable: co-witness contamination. Suggestions for further research will be included in the conclusion.

Keywords: Eye witness memory, eye witness testimony, emotional state, emotional elaboration, co-witness contamination

Table of Content

Introduction5

Body9

1) Witness factors11

Emotional arousal11

Emotional/personal memories12

Emotionally arousing event witnessed12

Fear13

Inferior memory for violent scenes13

Stress14

a. Stress during identification and inferior memory16

b. Stressful event/ stress during event16

Stereotypes and biases and how they influence memory17

How age affects eyewitness memory (child witnesses, elderly witnesses)17

2) External influences19

Co Witness Contamination (Memory Conformity Effect)19

Interactions with police19

Positive feedback and confidence relationship20

Biased instructions20

False Evidence, Fabricated Evidence And False Memories20

3) Procedural Methods/Interview/ Identification methods23

Type Of Line Up23

Sequential versus simultaneous lineups23

Repeated Identification/ Questioning24

Time24

Discussion25

Conclusion29

References31

Misperception of Eye Witness Memory: Why Eye Witness Testimony is Unreliable Introduction

Memory is the function to capture, encode, store and reproduce the stimuli and the information we perceive. It involves both physical and mental structures. Indeed, at first glance, one can distinguish sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory. Memory is an essential function of our brain. She is continually sought. It is therefore important to preserve and maintain. Memory is a complex mental process, the brain's ability to store and reproduce information. All people are born with the ability to remember the mortgaged various events, but there are people with phenomenal photographic memory. It really is a rare gift. These people can store vast amounts of information and reproduce the information very fast. It can be assumed that a combination of genetic factors and specific training in the course of life in young children is much less memory than adults, so we do not remember what happened to us in infancy. Over the years a person can keep in mind all a wide variety ...