Forensic Flashcards
What memories are witnesses asked to recall during eyewitness testimony?
Episodic memories
What is the innocence project?
Organisation dedicated to exonerating wrongful convictions
What is the most common cause of wrongful convictions?
Eyewitness misidentification.
Three stages of memory processing in relation to forensic psychology
Acquisition/Encoding
Storage/Retention
Testimony/Retrieval
Errors can occur at each stage
Bottom up processing
Is DATA-DRIVEN and begins with the image that falls on the retina. build from individual stimulus to unified perception.
Top-down processing
Sensory info is interpreted in light of/influenced by prior knowledge. (contextual)
Schemas
A mental framework/body of knowledge that helps us make sense of familiar situations.
(guide expectations of people/objects/events)
schema therory
We remember itens better if they fit in with our scheme/prev. experience.
can be errors
The ebbinghaus curve
Shows the inverse relationship b/t memory and retention.
memories distorted over time (e.g OJ simpson verdict)
encoding specificity
link b/t encoding and retrieval
Goddon and Baddeley
Reinstating context of encoding helped memory.
2 Types of retrieval
Recall
Recognition (e.g identification parade)
People recognise better than recall.
Non optimal interview strategy
interrupt, over-talking, suggestive/leading questions.
encourages ineffective retrieval attempts
Confirmatory bias
Police may have preconceived beliefs which effects the way they interview
Mental context reinstatement
Witness encouraged to recall the context of the event
Cognitive interview
Mental context reinstatement
Report everything
Reverse order
Change perspectives
Fisher and Geiselman
The enhanced cognitive interview- encorporate communication and cognitive techniques.
Who created the 7 deadly sins of memory
Schachter (2001)
Transience Absent-mindedness Blocking Misattribution Suggestibility Bias Persistence
Forgetting where you placed your keys is an example of…
Absent mindedness.
older adults more absent minded than young
Attention is involved in the ___ stage
encoding
Forgetting a phone number is an example of…
Transience.
Phonological loop must be implicated in transience
Unable to recall a word is an example of…
Blocking
Memories attributed to the wrong source is known as…
Misattribution
What kind of memories serve us well?
Give false memories of neg experience with unhealthy foods
Accuracy of open vs closed questions (with children)
Open q’s more accurate with children.
Open less effective with pre-schoolers.
Free recall (questioning children)
Free recall gave no false information.
however info is often limited