CONTEMP DEBATE: Eye witness testimony

Question 1

How do you cognitive psychologists explain memory regarding eye witness testimonies?

Answer 1

They agree that most memories are generally reconstructions of events rather than exact versions.

*Loftus and Palmer, for instance, believed that eyewitness memories are prone to all sorts of inferences and distortions and can be very unreliable.
*Children, especially young children are vulnerable to suggestions and hence reconstruction of their memories, as they have a tendency to be more compliant to please the questionnaire.
*Anxiety another stress related issues can also affect adults’ memory.

Question 2

How may trauma affect memory?

Answer 2

For cognitive psychologists, a REAL traumatic, one-off event is remembered very well and those interviewed are not vulnerable to leading questions or attempts to distort their memories.

But watching videos of faked traumatic events, such as car crashes, can leave ppts vulnerable to memory distortion and manipulation.

Question 3

What techniques can be used to improve eyewitness testimony

Answer 3

• Interviewing a witness sooner after the event than later.
• Using questioning techniques that avoid leading questions to prevent suggestibility.
• Encouraging the witness to be as detailed as possible and to recall feelings at the time.
• Use of different questions to access memory from different angles.
• Asking a witness to review what happened in reverse as well as in normal chronological order.
• These are summarised in the cognitive interview technique.

Question 4

What other variables should be taken into account in eyewitness testimony?

Answer 4

• The age of the witness,
• the amount of anxiety experienced at the time,
• the length of time between the event and the interview,
• the style of questioning.

Question 5

What are the ethical issues surrounding eyewitness testimony?

Answer 5

• Eyewitnesses may deceive juries and innocent people may go to jail.
• There should be strong guidelines when interviewing children, because they are more vulnerable to suggestibility.

Question 6

What are the economic implications of eyewitness testimony issues?

Answer 6

Cognitive interview techniques can be cost-effective, and reduce the the probability of innocent people being convicted which leads to retrials and the cost of police and court time.