Chapter 5: Eyewitness Testimony Flashcards
Recall memory
Reporting what you remember off the top of your head
Recognition memory
Determining whether the person or thing you saw in the past is the same as what you’re looking at now (ex. multiple choice, choosing the one you recognize)
What are the 5 stages of memory?
1) perception/attention
2) encoding stage
3) short-term memory
4) long-term memory
5) retrieval stage
how to study eyewitness research
Archival Data
police reports, transcripts, etc
Naturalistic Observations
(of witnesses)
Observe witness in real time
How are lab studies used to do research on eyewitness testimony?
(what is their focus?)
Most common is tests relating to memory (ex. showing change blindness videos)
IND. Estimator Variables
variables present at the time of the crime that cannot be changed (ex. age of witness)
IND. System Variables
Variables that can be manipulated in order to increase or decrease eyewitness accuracy (ex. the type of lineup used)
What are the 3 general DEP. variables in eyewitness studies?
- recognition of perp.
- recall of perp.
- recall of event/crime
Open-ended recall/Free narrative
- recount without being prompted
- TED questions (tell, explain, describe)
Direct question recall
- asked specific questions about the event/crime (ex. what was the colour of their jacket?)
What are the 3 ways recall of info is measured?
1) Amount (ex. how many details)
2) Type (ex. important? related? specific?)
3) Accuracy (ex. how many errors when comparing to other answers)
What are the 2 ways that witness recognition is measured?
- Accuracy (rate of correctly identifying the perp in a lineup)
- Errors (rate of identifying an innocent person, rate of stating perp isn’t present when they are)
Memory conformity
When there are multiple witnesses to a crime, one can be “contaminated” when they know what another witness has said about the crime
- when what one witness reports influences what another witness reports
Is it beneficial to mix visual and auditory questions during an interview?
No because asking a witness to recall on physical memories and audio memories can get confusing and may impact what is remembered correctly
What did Loftus and Palmer (1974) discover?
A witness recall report can be altered by the phrasing of the question being asked
- studies on “smashed” vs. “hit” cars (ex. the people who were asked questions using “smashed” reported that the car was going faster than the people who were asked “hit” questions)
Misinformation Effect/ Post-Event Information Effect
If a witness is given false information about the event after it has happened, they are more likely to incorporate that misinformation into their recall of the event
Misinformation Acceptance Hypothesis
- witness trying to please the questioner
- guessing which answer they think the questioner wants to hear
Source Misattribution Hypothesis
witnesses remember their accurate and inaccurate memories of the event but can’t remember which one is which
Memory Impairment Hypothesis
Original memory gets overwritten by a new memory that is likely influenced by leading questions
Why is it thought that hypnosis can improve eyewitness recall?
Idea that a hypnotized person may be able to retrieve more details about an event from their subconscious
What’s an issue with using hypnosis in an interview?
Hypnotized people are highly suggestible and are usually equally confident in their accurate and inaccurate info
Is hypnosis allowed in canadian courts?
no
Cognitive Interview
an interview based on the principles of memory storage and retrieval
What are 4 memory retrieval techniques used in a cognitive interview?
- reinstating context
- reporting everything
- recall event in a different order
- changing perspective
Enhanced Cognitive Interview
includes principles of social dynamics
Enhanced Cognitive Interview
Rapport building
Officer should spend time with witness and make them feel comfortable
Enhanced Cognitive Interview
Supportive interviewer behaviour
Cognitive Interview + principles of social dynamics
officer shouldn’t interrupt free-recall and should pay attention to the witness
Enhanced Cognitive Interview
Transfer of control
since the witness is the person who saw the crime, they should be in charge of the flow of the interview
Enhanced Cognitive Interview
Focused retrieval
Cognitive Interview + principles of social dynamics
questions should be open-ended, not leading or suggestive
- officer should use focused memory techniques
Enhanced Cognitive Interview
Witness compatible questioning
officer’s questions should match with what the witness is talking about (ex. witness talking about clothing=questions about clothing)
What are some common descriptions of perpetrators that are typically accurate?
(three)
gender, hair colour, hair style
What are some common descriptions of perpetrators that are typically inaccurate?
(three)
weight, eye colour, shoes
What’s the difference between a suspect and a perpetrator?
Suspect is the person in question but they could be innocent or guilty
Perpetrator is the person who did it 100%
What is considered a “fair lineup”?
One where the suspect doesn’t stand out (the foils look like them too)
What are some reasons that police choose to use a photo lineup vs. a live lineup?
(four)
- faster and easier to construct, portable
- behaviour of suspects don’t interfere
- suspect doesn’t have the right to counsel (doesn’t need to be told their rights because they aren’t there)
- witness may be less anxious looking at photos than standing in front of people
Simultaneous Lineup
- what kind of judgement does it rely on?
All lineup members presented at the same time
- good for relative judgement
Relative Judgement
witness compares lineup members with each other and decides which one looks most like the perp.
What are Sequential lineups?
What kind of judgement do they rely on?
Witness shown one suspect and asked to make a decision before being shown the next suspect
- reduces the use of relative judgement because the witness can’t ask to see a suspect twice
- good for absolute judgement
Are children more effective when shown a simultaneous lineup or a sequential lineup? Adults?
Children: more effective = simultaneous/elimination lineup
Adults: more effective = sequential lineups
Absolute Judgement
(in identification procedures)
Witness compares the suspect with their memory of the perp instead of comparing them to the other suspects
1) What is a showup?
2) What kind of judgement is likely to occur?
3) What is a problem with this kind of lineup?
1) Suspect is shown to witness
2) absolute judgement
3) the witness knows who the police think the suspect is so their response may be biased (showups are suggestive)
What is a walk-by?
(identification prodedure)
Witness is taken to a public place where the suspect is likely to be
Asked to report when they think they see the perp.
What is a biased lineup?
A lineup that is suggestive as to who the suspect is
What are 3 common biases that increase the risk of false identification in lineup procedures?
- What is the major concern?
1) Foil bias
2) Clothing bias
3) Instruction bias
- false positives/identification
Foil Bias
(in lineups)
- only one person in the lineup that has similar features (ex. only one red head)
1) What is Clothing Bias?
2) How can it be avoided?
(in lineups)
1) only one person wearing the specific clothing described to police
2) either everyone needs the same clothing or no one has it
Instruction Bias (most important)
(in lineups)
The police don’t tell the witness that the perp may not be present and that they don’t have to choose someone if they don’t feel it is anyone
- this avoids the witness choosing someone because they feel they have to
Voice Identification: What are some factors that increase accuracy?
(2 points)
- longer voice samples
- similar accent to witness
Voice Identification: What are some factors that decrease accuracy?
(5 points)
- whispering, muffling
- change in tone
- threatening messages
- more foils (too many to remember and compare)
- target’s voice occurs later in the lineup
Does confident = correct?
confident witnesses aren’t more accurate in their memory
Estimator Variable: Age
Are older adults and younger adults equally as accurate in identification procedures?
Older adults are less accurate
- memory, vision, etc.
Estimator Variable: Race
Cross-Race Effect
(identification procedures)
Higher accuracy when target is the same race as witness
(not a lot of empirical evidence)
What are the 3 explanations of the cross-race effect/other-race effect
1) ATTITUDES
people with racist views may be less inclined to distinguish among members of other races
research suggests that this may not be about attitude but more about how much contact someone typically has with other races (if they’re racist)
2) PHYSIOGNOMIC HOMOGENEITY
some races have less variability in their faces “they all look the same”
lacks empirical evidence
3) INTERRACIAL CONTACT
suggests that the more time you spend with other races, the better you will be at identifying them
has the most evidence to back it up but still not certain
What does the weapon focus phenomenon suggest?
The witness may not remember as many details about a crime when there is a weapon present
Estimator Variable: Presence of a weapon
Cue-Utilization Hypothesis
Theory that emotional arrousal increases in the presense of a weapon
- attentional arrousal decreases (less details noticed)
Estimator Variable: Presence of a weapon
Unusualness Hypothesis
Theory that less details are encoded because weapons are unusual and unexpexted
- witness focuses more on weapon because they’re surprised (exogenous cue)
- when something is unexpected, it’s harder to remember details because you weren’t prepared to pay attention
What are the 4 guidelines for improvement in eyewitness evidence in the US?
1) person conducting lineup shouldn’t know who the suspect is
2) witesses told suspect/perp may not be in the lineup
3) suspect shouldn’t stand out
4) witnesses confidence assessed prior to feedback
What did Kassin add to eyewitness evidence guidelines?
lineups should be recorded and taped
What are the 4 additional guidelines for improvement in eyewitness evidence in Canada?
1) photo lineups videotaped
2) tell witnesses it’s just as important to identify innocent suspects (elimination)
3) sequential lineups
4) officers should not provide feedback
Approximately _ percent of wrongful conviction cases (exonerated through DNA evidence) have been attributed to eyewitness identification
a) 50
b) 10-20
c) 75
d) 25
c) 75
Which Canadian case involving poor police techniques in collecting eyewitness evidence resulted in a set of recommendations for conducting lineup identifications?
a) R. v. Reno
b) Neil v. Biggers
c) R. v. Brooks
d) R. v. Sophonow
d) R. v. Sophonow
Wrongful conviction of woman strangled in a donut shop
Factors affecting encoding
Attentional Saturation
- so much going on all the time so we generalize it because we can’t encode it all
- may miss details but can still recognize familiarity
What factors may affect encoding?
attention, unexpectedness, witness involvement, stress level of witness, state of witness (tired, under the influence, etc.)
What factors may affect retrieval?
(six)
- inferences (people guess)
- stereotypes (fill in gaps)
- biases influence memory
- scripts/schemas (typical vs. actual info)
- emotional factors (ex. anxiety blocks retrieval)
- context effects (cues trigger memories)
