Eyewitness Memory and Testimony

Potential issues with eyewitness memory

CRE, stress effect, weapon focus effect, unconscious transference, post ID feedback

CRE

Harder to recognize faces outside of our race. Not influenced by racial attitudes. More we know other groups, the easier it is to recognize other faces. Why? Encode other race faces more superficially paying less attention to other races.

Manson criteria

how courts assess eyewitness testimony.

Opportunity to view perpretator

Level of attention

Accuracy of witnesses’s description of offender

Witnesses degree of certainty - Inconsistent with research

Time between witnessing and ID

System variables

under legal system control. 

post ID feedback, lineup instructions and lineup administration

estimator variables

outside of legal system control

Stress

CRE, WFE

Encoding conditions

How can we improve eyewitness testimony?

pre-lineup interviews, evidence based suspicion, double blind lineups, appropriate fillers, unbiased instructions, confidence ratings, video recording, avoid repeated lineups, avoid show ups, sequential lineups, expert testimony

prelineup interview

conduct asap, manson criteria, record on video

evidence based suspicion

evidence documented to put someone in lineup

double blind lineup

neither witness or detective know who suspect is. helps reduce unintentional communication and cues

appropriate lineup fillers

people in lineup should all look similar and suspect does not stand out

unbiased instructions

say suspect may or may not be in lineup, telling EW the detective doesnt know who the suspect is. force them to solely rely on their memory.

confidence ratings

obtain statement immediately after lineup before giving feedbackvi

avoid repeated lineups

earlier exposure to suspect increases probability witness will pick them in second procedure.

avoid showups

presenting a single suspect to an eyewitness to ask if they committed crime

sequential lineups

present one person or photo at a time

expert testimony

Psychologists summarize research findings on conditions that increase/decrease eyewitness accuracy. Sensitizes jurors to importance of lineup procedures

encoding

gather info

storage

holding the information

retrieval

accessing the information

recall

no specific cue. investigative interview

recognition

accessed w a cue. lineup