Class 5 - Forensic Psych - Eyewitness Testimony

Famous case how eyewitness testimony can be false

Ronald Cotton

True or false? 60%+ of clients within the innocence project were from faulty eyewitness convictions.

True

What are the 3 stages of memory?

1. Encoding

2. Storage

3. Retrieval

What are the 3 types of memory?

• Episodic - Major events

• Semantic - General knowledge

• Procedural - Completing tasks

For eyewitness retrieval we use ____ and ____.

recall, recognition

Example of the misinformation effect, “How questions are asked can affect the answer”

Car accident experiment , Loftus and Palmer. “Hit” vs “Smashed”

What are the 3 potential causes of the misinformation effect?

1. Misinformation acceptance hypothesis

   • Guessing

2. Source misattribution hypothesis

   • Two different sources, mixing them up

3. Memory impairment hypothesis

   • Purely inaccessible

Cognitive Interviews create an increase in accurate information vs control interviews. What are the 5 strategies used to improve recall of a crime?

1. Mental Reinstatement

2. Reporting everything

3. Reversing order

4. Changing perspectives

What are the two types of variables that affect eyewitness accuracy?

1. Estimator

   • Variables that are not under control of the legal system

2. System

   • Variables that are under control of the legal system

System Variable - Lineups. When the target is present there are 3 types of identifications, what are they?

• Correct identification

• False identification

• Incorrect rejection (i.e., “not here”

System Variable - Lineups. When the target is absent, false id would constitute _____ and a ____ is wanted

any pick, correct rejection

What are simultaneous lineups?

Photos shown at once. A relative judgement is used → “Which person looks most like the suspect”

What are sequential lineups?

Photos shown one after the other. Absolute judgement is made.

What are the 3 types of biases in lineups?

1. Foil bias

   • Suspect is the only lineup member who matches the description of the culprit

2. Clothing bias

   • Suspect is wearing a bright yellow shirt while everyone else wears black hoodies

3. Instruction bias

   • Police fail to mention that suspect may not be present

What is unconcsicous transference?

The reassignment of a face that is familiar from another context to the scene of a crime.

What do scripts allow us to do?

They allow us to process info quickly and efficiently. Sequences of actions that occur in particular situation

What is the weapon focus effect?

When we have more focus on the weapon than details of the offender.

Under the weapon focus effect, what is the arousal hypothesis?

Emotional arousal → Decrease attention → Focus only on central things (e.g., running away, not on what suspect looks like)

Under the weapon focus effect, what is the unusual item hypothesis?

If the attack item is unusual, it attracts our attention more

Cross-race effect

We ID those of our own race better.

True or False? Eyewitness is A LOT weaker than DNA evidence?

Eyewitness testimonies are very influential even against DNA evidence.

5 recommendations for eyewitness evidence

1. Blind administration

2. Instructed target may be abselt

3. Fair (no bias) lineup

4. Witness confidence taken immediately

5. Procedure should be video recorde