Reliability of eyewitness testimony

Christansen and Hubinette

They questioned 110 witnesses that had seen 22 bank robberies in total, they discovered that when recalling events the people directly threatened remembered more than the bystanders

So what?- Christansen and Hubinette

This supports the use of eye witness testimony as it shows that stressful events increase reliability. This is shown by flashbulb memories, these are highly vivid memories for circumstances surrounding emotional events meaning eye witnesses will be able accurately recall crimes.

Clifford and Scott

Researched the effect of witnessing a violent attack on memory. They found that people who saw a violent film attack remembered fewer items about an event than a control group.

So what?-Clifford and Scott

This goes against the use of eye witness testimony as it shows stressful events can also decrease reliability. This is shown by weapon focus, this is when witnesses of violent crimes focus their attention on the weapon present resulting in poor quality testimony as they are unable to describe anything about the crime other than the weapon.

Social implication of weapon focus

This is a problem as crimes with weapons are seen as more serious, so eye witness testimony is more likely to be taken seriously even if not accurate, this increases the chances of wrongful convictions

Conclusion of emotion and stress

In conclusion, its unclear as to whether eyewitness testimony is reliable or not as it all depends on a victims stress response

Allport and Postman

Showed white american participants a picture of a white man threatening a black man with a razor blade, their task was to describe the picture to a second participant, then they describe it to a third and so on. Over half of the participants described the black man as the threatening one not the white man

So what?- Allport and Postman

This goes against the use of eye witness testimony as it shows racial stereotypes affect how witnesses perceive events, this reduces the reliability of eye witness testimony and limits the use of it as some people can’t be trusted.

McCloskey

argued that research into racial stereotypes distorting memory are weak, suggesting that Allport and Postman’s research was based on inaccurate evidence

So what?- McCloskey

This supports the use of eye witness testimony because its vouching that research made into racial stereotyping distorting memory, making it unreliable, is not well supported and is a weak argument, meaning that eye witness testimony may actually be reliable.

Economic implication of racial stereotyping

Due to unreliable eye witness testimony many retrials have taken place and compensation has been given to those wrongfully convicted, this costs the economy lots of money

Racial stereotyping conclusion

In conclusion, its unclear as to whether eyewitness testimony is reliable or not, as no resent, reliable research has be conducted in order to find out whether or not racial stereotyping actually distorts memory.

Samantha Runnion case

Samantha’s friend Sarah at just 5 was able to give police a description of the suspect and his car. He was found and arrested for her murder.

So what?- Samantha Runnion case

This supports the use of child eye witness testimony because it shows that children can be good eye witnesses and are capable of accurately recollecting crimes.

Social implication of child eye witness testimony

Crimes involving children will often require eye witness testimony from children so if the justice system were to implement the belief that children’s memory’s are less reliable it would make child related crimes easier to get away with

Linder

Young students were asked whether they were victim to sexual crimes following an accusation made against their teacher, the answers given in court were completely different from the answers given when they were asked at school

So what?- Linder

This goes against the use of child eye witness testimony due to the unreliable results given by the children. It suggests that children are to young to fully comprehend what they are being asked to recall, making the testimonies unreliable

Conclusion of child eye witness testimony

In conclusion, its unclear as to whether child eye witness testimony is reliable or not as the accuracy of the testimony given seems to rely on the competence of the child giving the testimony

Overall conclusion

Overall, eye witness testimony is unreliable. While there is solid evidence to suggest eye witness testimony can be reliable, in most cases memory of a crime is corrupted leading to false imprisonment.