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what is the rate of false eyewitness identification
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Confirmation bias
people look for interpret and create information that verifies an existing belief
Why mistaken eyewitness Identifications occur (4)
situational conditions, pressure to identify, wanting to help, photo spreads or physical line up
perception of criminal
we over estimate the height of criminal,
we overestimate the duration of brief events and overestimate the duration of prolonged incidents,
when we notice more about the actions than the actor
we get the gist but fail to see details
weapons focus effects
if a weapon is present when a crime is committed, we devote more attention to it than the facial features or other physical aspects of the person with the weapon.
what causes the weapons focus effect?
selective attention
Ecphoric experience
a subjective sense of recognition based on a good memory and a good likeness of the perpetrator in the line up
unconscious transference
Victims may pick from a lineup someone they have seen before but who is not the actual criminal
Ground truth
A clear and accurate measure of the outcome of interest in a study
Ecological Validity
The extent to which the methods material and setting of a research study resemble the real-life phenomena being investigated
Archival Analysis
involves after-the-fact examination of real life wrongful convictions and actual cases
advantages of archival analysis
uses real life situations
disadvantages of archival analysis
can only document what happened in those cases and it cannot explain why
field studies
combines the rigorous control of an experiment with the real-world setting of archival analyses
advantages of field studies
they may have more ecological validity than than an experiement
disadvantages of field studies
you cannot distinguish correct identifications of the guilty from incorrect identifications
system variable
factors under the control of the criminal justice system
estimator variables
factors beyond the control of the justice system and whose impact on the reliability of the eyewitness can only be estimated
postdiction variable
the confidence that a witness feels for an identification
other race effect
eyewitnesses are usually better at recognizing and identifying members of their own race or ethnic group. racial attitudes are not related to the other-race effect
NJ vs. Henderson
lists factors that judges should consider in evaluating the reliability of an eyewitnesses identification. requires the judge to hold a hearing to consider issues and must give detailed instructions to the jury
standard police interview
relies on predetermined questionsco
cognitive interiews
the interviewer establishes rapport, then asks witness to provide narrative account of events, then asks specific questions
simulataneous presentation
all members of the line up are shown the witness at once
sequential presentation
the witness makes a decision about each lineup member before seeing the next
relative judgement
eyewitnesses tend to identify the person who looks most like the culprit relative to other members of the group
Absolute judgement
the eyewitness comparing each member in turn to his or her memory of the perpetrator and decides whether any person in the lineup is the individual who committed the crime
facts of children eyewitnesses
children over the age of six make reliable identifications if they made an extended contact with them
children are less accurate than adults
what type of questions are children less accurate with?
specific questions
Reminiscence effect
when recalling previous experience people often report new information on each recall attempt
physiognomic variability
perceived differences based on physical features
types of recovered memories
those that are gradually recovered in suggestive therapy
those that spring up spontaneously without prompting or attempts to reconstruct the past
Imagination inflation
a kind of distortion of memory involving the accurate recollection of an item seen or an action taken when it has only been imagined
