Ch 7.16 & 7.17- Familiarity vs Source Memory & Eyewitness Testimonies

source monitoring errors

the inability to properly attribute how (from what source) a memory originated

destination memory errors

not realizing when someone has been the destination for a memory before (telling your friend the same story over and over again)

familiarity & illusion of truth

participants given sentences and asked to judge how interesting each statement was, then presented with new sentences and asked to judge the credibility of new information based on the source. mostly correct results, but after bringing the participants back after a period of time they had a different perception of what was credible

mere exposure effect

being exposed to a stimuli repeatedly can increase later preferences (choosing brands over no names)

Ch. 7.17- Eyewitness Testimony

a) people misidentify and misreport events despite high confidence in their recall ability

b) juries are more likely to believe a confident witness

c) >75% of wrongful convictions attributed to mistaken eyewitnesses

case of ronald cotton

ronald cotton selected from police lineup, initial ID was tentative, confidence in ID increased overtime

familiarity & source memory

1) participants shown staged crime

2) 2-3 days later shown other mug shots

3) 4-5 days later asked to identify suspect from lineup

29% error rate. lack of source memory leading to familiarity causing rationalization « that has to be them because I remember them »