Eyewitness Testimony Flashcards
Encoding
gathering information and putting it in a form that can be held in memory (events situations, etc)
Retention/ storage
how information is stored overtime
short term vs long term
Suspect
who the police believe committed the crime
culprit
who actually committed the crime
Fillers/Foils
- distractor faces in a line-up
- prevent bias of looking at only one person
Absolute judgement
- comparing a memory to the real person in front of you
Relative judgement
- looks the most like who you say relative to those around them
Cross-Race Effect
Witnesses able to remember faces of their own race better and more accuartely than the faced of other races
Biased Lineup
lineup that suggests who the police believe the suspect is
Foil/Filler Bias
Suspect is the only lineup member who matches the description of the culprit
Clothing Bias
Suspect is the only lineup member wearing similar clothing to that worn by the culprit
Instruction Bias
The police fail to mention that the culprit may not be present;
Instead, police imply that culprit is present and that the witness should ID him/her
Police Rules of Lineup Administration
Rule 1. Blind Lineup Administrators
Should not know who suspect is
Rule 2. Bias-Reducing Instructions to Eyewitnesses
The person in question might not be present and do not feel you must make an ID
The person administering the lineup does not know which person is the suspect
Rule 3. Unbiased Lineups
Suspect should not stand out from fillers as being different based on the previous description or on factors that would draw extra attention
Rule 4. Confidence Ratings
Obtain a clear confidence statement in his or her own words at the time of the ID and prior to any feedback
