Cognitive Approach- Debate Flashcards
Eye witness Testimonies are unreliable
How do the fact that crimes are emotive experiences show that EWT are NOT reliable?
- crimes are unexpected and emotionally traumatising.
- Freud states that painful thoughts are pushed into the unconscious mind
- witnesses are not reliable because memory if the crime is too traumatising
how does post event information show that EWT are NOT reliable
-In Loftus and palmers research demonstrated that even subtle changes in the wording used in questions can influence the recollection of the participant. this suggests that whenever a witness is questioned either by the police, lawyers, friends etc their recollections the actual event may be distorted
why are child witnesses not reliable?
-children as eyewitnesses are often unreliable because they are prone to fantasy and their memories can be affected by suggestions made by others
how does reconstructive memory make EWT unreliable?
- schemas are used to help us process information quickly, however one drawback with schemas is that the information already held in our schemas may already distort our memory of an even
- preconceived ideas about the facial features of criminals may influence us when making decisions on suspects in a line-up or photo array
Eye witness Testimonies are reliable
Post event information- Reliable- Eye witness recollection for central or key details may be more resistant to distortion from post event information than previously suggested
Emotive experiences- Reliable- When we experience events which are emotionally shocking, and which hold personal significance we create a particularly accurate and long-lasting memory
Child witnesses-Reliable- Children between the ages 6-7 and 10-11 are fairly accurate in their memories of an event, they do not usually make things up and do not deliberately lie. All age groups are most accurate when recognising an offender of their own age group
Reconstructive memory- Reliable
Rape Crisis reports that 90% of rapists are known to their victims, this means that the eyewitness ability to identify the assailant is likely to be very reliable, even when the crimes themselves are incredibly traumatic
