exam 2: eyewitness testimony and memory biases

cross-race effect

a memory error in which outgroup members are mistaken for one another due to an underdeveloped ability to differentiate outgroup characteristics

Elizabeth Loftus

distinguished UCI professor; published widely in the area of human memory, and has been honored for her research with six honorary doctorates and election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

eyewitness testimony

when a person witnesses a crime (or accident, or other legally important event) and later gets up on the stand and recalls for the court all the details of the witnessed event

false memories

memory for an event that never actually occurred; implanted by experimental manipulation or other means

foils/fillers

Any member of a lineup (whether live or photograph) other than the suspect; known to be innocent of particular crime under investigation

photo spreads

A selection of normally small photographs of faces given to a witness for the purpose of identifying a perpetrator