Crime Investigation: Witnesses Flashcards
Witnesses as aResource:
- Id__ of su__(s)
- Re__ of the crime
- Affects decisions to q__/a__.
- Affects decisions to p__.
- Affects decisions for which c__ to prosecute.
- Affects readiness to p__ b__.
Identification, suspects
recounting
question/arrest
prosecute
crime
plea bargain
Faces™ 4.0 for Law EnforcementEf__. Af__ and Ea__ to use.
effective, affordable, easy
Two Separate (but related) Issues Concerning Witnesses:
General M__ for e__:
-Can draw from b__ psychological research on m__.
Ey__ Id__:
-Much more s__ evidence from p__ and l__ research
memory, events
basic, memory
eyewitness identification
specific, psych, law
To R__, We Must First P__:
N__- stimuli that are n__ more readily attract attention
M__- stimuli that m__ more readily attract attention
I__ to s__- stimuli that has i__ for the s__ attract more attention.
These are basic p__ phenomenon that have a__ value to a__ and h__.
remember, perceive
novelty, novel
movement, move
importance, self, implications, self
perceptual, adaptive, animals, humans
Perception D__: The weapons focus effect:
Weapons-focus effect- Loftus (87) tracked e__ movements of participants watching characters in a bank- g__ vs. c__- net i__ of ability to i__ person with __.
Further, Pickel et al 2003 demonstrated that a w__ interfered with a__
comprehension.
diminished
eye, gun, checkbook, impairment, identify, gun
weapon, auditory
Perception Diminished: Ch__ bl__.
-demonstrated in video of two women talking in which many elements change, such as the removal of a scarf, but go unnoticed to most viewers.
change blindness
M__ as part of the p__ process:
cognitive ou__/be__–>
go__/mo__/em__–>
selective at__/co__–>
en__/si__/el__->
st__ and re__——>
back to beginning and loops
memory, perceptual
output/behavior
goals/motivation/emotion
attention/comprehension
encoding/simplification/elaboration
storage, retrieval
Psychological Research of Memory:
Long history of memory research- since the l__ 1__s
Key findings: Memory is constructive meaning that it is c__ or c__ rather than simply r__. (and reconstructive: memories that a__ or o__ details that were not part of an o__ event..) process.
- No f__ d__
- No _ _ _ tape
- Very few “p__ memories”
late, 1800’s
constructed, created, recorded
add, omit, original
file drawer
VHS
photographic
General Memory Effects:
- A__ to remembrances
- R__ from remembrances
~At the heart of this is implications of a remembrance for the s__.
~And the need to make things f__ into existing r__/c__ structures.
additions
removals
self
fit, remembrances/cognitive
Memory Distortion at 3 Possible Phases of Memory:
En__:
- S__ effects
- N__
St__:
- D__
- Incorporation of new “p__ event” i__.
- Use s__ to fill in the b__.
Re__:
- Not always e__ or a s__ thing
- S__ confusion
- Unconscious t__
- The q__ asked
encoding
stress
novelty
storage
decay
post, information
schemas, blanks
retrieval easy, sure source transference question
Memory Distortion: Encoding
Stress Effects
- high stress had a f__ rate of _ _% when asked to identify i__ _ _ hours later.
- N__ can make memory encoding more difficult- less to a__ new info with.
failure, 34%, interrogator 24
novelty, associate
Memory Distortion: Storage
Decay
-E__’s F__ Curve
R__ decreases r__, then reaches a p__ (around _ days), after which little more is f__.
ebbinghaus’s forgetting
recall, rapidly, plateau, 5, forgotten
Memory Distortion: Storage
Incorporation of new “post event” information:
- A__ differ: c__/t__
- S__ confusion (the memory of information as being obtained from o__ source when it was in fact obtained from a__)
associations, content/time
source, one, another
Memory Distortion: Storage
Use schemas to fill in the blanks
Schemas are mental r__ of c__ and b__ that free cognitive r__.
ex: when asked to memorize the list of words: Butter
Food, Eat, Sandwich, Rye, Jam
Milk, Flour, Jelly, Dough, Crust
Slice, Wine, Loaf, Toast
You’re likely to misremember words that would fit the schema such as “bread” or “picnic.”
representations, concepts, behaviors, resources
Memory Distortion: Retrieval
- Not always e__ or a s__ thing
- S__ confusion
- Unconscious t__ (an eyewitness’s misidentification of an innocent bystander for a criminal perpetrator because of the witness’s exposure to the bystander in another c__.)
- The q__ asked
easy, sure
source
transference, context
question
Why Can Memories Go So Wrong in Testimony?
Repeated r__, r__:
-We l__ to tell these stories and we do it o__ (the “W__ were you w__?” game )
rehearsal, retrieval
like, often, where, when
Remembrances of Things Past:
Had students describe where they were when they found out about the C__ explosion the d__ after and . years later.
Results: \_\_ details completely i\_\_. \_\_ details p\_\_ wrong. \_\_ details c\_\_. \_\_% of Ps were incorrect on e\_\_ detail.
challenger, day, 2.5
93, incorrect
60, partially
67, correct
25, every
Repeated Q__ Leads to:
Repeated r__, r__.
Implication that something in the o__ memory is i__ or m__ (untested as far as I know)
C__ witness are often interviewed as many as __ times in a__ cases
questioning
rehearsal, retrieval
original, incorrect, missing
child, 11, abuse
Memory in Children:
Children are especially e__ to p__.
Children are generally less a__ than a__.
Children are more open to s__.
eager, please
accurate, adults
suggestion
Memory in Children: Research and Reality:
Ceci and Bruck (1995). Sam Stone.
- Initially told Sam was c__ and b__ things.
- Over time, l__ questions led to __% blaming Sam Stone
- and __% said they s__ him do it.
- Margaret Kelly Michaels and the Wee Care nursery school- convicted on __ counts
- Served 5 years of __ year sentence. overturned on grounds of s__ and c__ testimony.
clumsy, broke
leading, 72
45, saw
115, 47, suggestive, coercive
Unconscious Transference:
Forgetting the c__ of a r__ stimulus and subsequently m__-r__ the c__ of the stimulus.
For example, can lead to the identification of someone at a crime scene as the s__ when they were actually present as a w__.
Buckhout (74)- mock assault- 141 students- _ weeks later students were asked to id s__.
-__% identified i__ bystander
context, remembered, mis-remembering, context
suspect, witness
7, suspect
60, innocent
The Question Asked…
Loftus- asked participants how fast were two cars going when they r__ (s__) into each other?
More people reported broken g__ in “s__” condition and estimated the cars were moving at a higher s__.
ran, smashed
glass, smashed, speed
Elizabeth Loftus Quotes:
“When we remember something, we’re taking b__ and p__ of experience-sometimes from different t__ and p__-and bringing it all together to construct what might feel like a r__ but is actually a c__.”
bits, pieces
times, places
recollection, construction
R__ sometimes a problem in e__ IDs.
ex: J__ Thompson-C__ identifying R__ C__ from photographs as her rapist, causing him to be in prison for __ years before _ _ _ testing cleared him.
race, eyewitness
jennifer cannino, ronald cotton, 10, DNA
Eyewitness Identification Statistics:
Arye Rattner (OSU grad) -_._% of d\_\_ are w\_\_ convicted.
_ _% of __ wrongful convictions studied were due to e__ misidentification.
The Center on Wrongful Convictions (Northwestern University)
Faulty e__ identifications played a role in more than / of __ death-row inmates who were e__.
In __% of cases, this was the S__ evidence against accused
.5, defendants, wrongfully
53%, 200, eyewitness
eyewitness, 1/2, 86, exonerated
38, sole
Eyewitness Identification:
Staged a theft for witnesses
_ _: Viewing conditions (good, moderate, poor)
_ _: accuracy of i__ perpetrator
Results:
- accuracy varies by viewing condition
- _ _% if good, _ _% if moderate, _ _% if poor.
theft
IV
DV, identifying
74, 50, 33
Juror Response to Eyewitness:
Jurors were not very s__ to d__ in viewing conditions.
-Believed witnesses with g__ viewing conditions slightly __.
Good - _ _%
Moderate – _ _%
Poor - _ _%
sensitive, differences
good, more
69%
57%
58%
Eyewitness Testimony Is Amazingly Powerful:
(Loftus, 1974)
Ss read descriptions of c__ and c__ evidence.
IVs: E__ identification:
- P__
- A__
- P__ (but u__)
DV: Vote to c__ or not
Results: Conviction Rates
- Present: __%
- Absent: __%
- Unreliable: __%
crime, circumstantial
eyewitness
present
absent
present, unreliable
convict
72%
18%
68%
Lineups- Presenting the Suspect to the Witness
Two types:
-Si__ Presentation
“Law & Order-y” l__ lineups, also done with p__.
Suspects presented in g__ with f__.
-Se__ Presentation
Suspects presented o__ at a t__.
simultaneous
live, pictures
groups, foils
sequential, one, time
Comparing Simultaneous and Sequential Lineups
False positives:
- simultaneous: __%
- sequential: __%
39%
19%
Simultaneous and Sequential Lineups What Is the Difference?
In sequential lineups, rather than comparing suspects to e__ o__, witnesses evaluate each s__ and c__ it to their i__ of the s__.
Renders an a__ judgment rather than a r__ judgment (as in a s__ presentation).
each other, separately, compare, image, suspect
absolute, relative, simultaneous
Wells’ Recommendations for Lineups:
-Limit f__ provided to w__.
~P__ feedback makes them o__.
-Use d__-b__, s__ procedures only.
~Neither o__ or w__ knows whether s__ is in lineup
~Can help eliminate both i__ and u__ c__ by officers.
Note: he also advocates teaching l__ about these techniques
feedback, witness
positive, overconfident
double-blind, sequential
officer, witness, suspect
intentional, unintentional, cuing
lawyers
Justice Department Guidelines for Lineups:
P__ were instrumental in developing them.
Use o__-e__ questions
-“I_ he here?” NOT “W__ o__ is he?
Instruct the witness that the lineup m__ or m__ n__ contain the p__.
Record witnesses o__ w__ about c__.
Select appropriate f__.
-Match as c__ as possible
psychologists
open-ended
is, which one
may, may not, perpetrator
own words, certainty
foils
closely
Recent Advances in Lineup Procedures:
Multiple identification lineups
-Witnesses pick on the basis of f__, b__ and v__ separately.
Lindsay (2004) reports these false positive rates:
Simultaneous: _ _%
Sequential: _%
Multiple ID: _%
face, body, voice
27%
9%
3%
Own Race Bias:
In general, it’s easier to p__ and r__ f__ objects
- F__ are no exception
- Cross r__ identifications are i__.
~Maybe cross g__ too, but effect is s__.
~W__ eyewitnesses are particularly bad at c__-r__ identification
process, remember, familiar
faces
races, impaired
gender, smaller
white, cross-race
Own Race Bias- Experimental Evidence:
El Paso convenience store clerks asked to identify customers from a lineup
- w__ clerk best at identifying w__ customer
- b__ clerk best at identifying b__ customer
- m__ clerk best and identifying m__ customer.
white, white
black, black
mexican, mexican
Does Emotion in Facial Expression Matter to Identification Accuracy?
While white Ps were relatively inaccurate in identifying African American faces with n__ expressions, accuracy __ with African American faces with a__ expressions. (Maner, et al., 2003)
neutral, improved, angry
“The m__ race is not as good at identifying m__ as it is its o__ race. This is h__-w__ in some way that we don’t completely understand. But the phenomenon should be presented to the j__,” said Barry Scheck, co-founder of The Innocence Project.
P__, however, do not want j__ to raise the issue with j__.
“This is not an appropriate area for judges to go into,” said Josh Marquis, district attorney in Astoria, Ore., and a member of the executive committee of the National District Attorneys Association. “Yes, eyewitness ID across races has its issues. But is there a rampant problem to the degree that we need to get judges to start telling juries this is the law? No.”
majority, minorities, own, hard-wired, jury
prosecutors, judges, juries
Children as Eyewitnesses:
Children are often the o__ eyewitness to crimes like s__ abuse.
They are subject to the s__ biases as adults plus:
-Less accurate as o__ than p__
-Generally less accurate in l__.
~Especially false positive when perpetrator is a__.
-Training t__ and i__ don’t h__.
only, sexual
same observers, participants lineups absent tasks, instructions, help
What Can Be Done? Begin with Understanding the Difference Between System vs Estimator Variables:
-System variables are u__ the control of the j__ s__.
~L__ u_ procedures
~Q__ techniques
-Estimator variables are b__ the c__ of the justice system
~Poor l__ at c__ scene
~S__ level of w__
under, justice system
line up
questioning
beyond, control
lighting, crime
stress, witness
