Forensic - Eyewitnesses Flashcards
The goal of forensic investigators is to ________ a past event. This is done by _______ evidence and ________ evidence. Both forms of evidence are handled differently by the criminal justice system. There is not the same caution with ________ evidence as there is with _______ evidence.
reconstruct physical eyewitness eyewitness physical
Physical evidence has strict ______ for collecting and preserving. These have a strong _______ foundation. However, the evidence is often _________ (it ties someone to the scene, but not necessarily at the time of the crime).
Eyewitness evidence is not collected by ________ in human behaviour. And the process does not incorporate _______ research to a great extent. BUT it often _______ links the suspect to the crime.
protocols
scientific
specialists
psychological/scientific
directly
The general public sees memory as a video recorder, but psychologists know that memory is ________, __________ and susceptible to suggestion. Errors can occur at:
- _______ (eg: hard to see in a dark place)
- _______ (forgetting with delay, and incorporating previously known information)
- ________
Hence, it is not considered a _______ form of evidence. BUT the criminal justice system is based on ________.
fallible reconstructive encoding storage retrieval reliable precedence
What is the misinformation effect?
Exposure to incorrect information about an event after it has occurred, which often causes people to incorporate this misinformation into their memories.
Post-event Information encounters
Leading questions - give some examples and research of this
McMartin Preschool - 7 teachers accused of kidnapping kids - leading questions to the children. Not corroborated with other evidence - wouldn’t they see helicopters leaving the school?
Loftus & Palmer 1974 - changed the wording when asking about a traffic accident video. Asked participants about the speed. Responses varied according to “collided”, “hit”, “smashed”.
Post-event Information encounters
Media report - give some examples and research of this of this
Washington sniper - media reported a white van, but it was actually a black sedan
Wright & Stroud 1998 - participants shown a shoplifting incident - then read a brief summary of the crime which had some misinformation - participants then incorporated these details into their memories.
Post-event Information encounters
Co-witnesses information - give some examples and research of this
“social contagion of memory” or “memory conformity”
Peter Hain - mistaken for a bank robber as witnesses spoke to each other afterwards and all said the perpetrator was wearing an army jacket. BUT he was actually wearing a Nike shirt.
Paterson & Kemp 2005
- participants watch a video
- don’t know there are two different versions
- participants discuss what they remember to a co-witness (on some occasions they’ve seen the same videos, sometimes different ones)
- one week later they individually recall what they have seen
- participants consistently report misinformation that was previously stated by a co-witness during discussion
- this occurs even if they are warned not to report what others tell them, or told them they were watching a different video
- AND participants had no idea if they were in the “same” or “different” conditions.
What does co-witness information NOT have an effect on?
Perpetrator identification - potentially because they don’t discuss facial features in detail?
Paterson & Kemp, 2006 compared the impact of different methods of encountering misinformation. They found:
- No effect of post-event information on memory accuracy for _______ items
- _____ and ______ co-witness information conditions led to _____ accurate AND ____ accurate information. Hence, they have the same, strong effect.
control (no information given after event) direct indirect more less
Why does the misinformation effect occur?
Alternation Hypothesis
The original information does not exist because:
1. ______ slot: misinformation accepted because of a failure to ______ original information
2. _______: post-event information ______ the original memory
3. ______: encode misinformation in the same cognitive ______ as the original information which results in a _____ (eg: they say 4 people, you think 6, so you go with 5)
vacant encode overwriting overwrites blend structure blend
Why does the misinformation effect occur?
Co-existence Hypothesis
Both memories for the ______ event and the ______ are stored and each memory is capable of being _______. The original memory is not _______ but is less _______ than the misleading information. This could be due to (1) _______ effect or (2) _________interference
original misinformation recovered replaced accessible recency retroactive
What factors increase susceptibility to the misinformation effect?
- age (young and old)
- hypnosis
- suggestibility
- misinformation being repeated
- misinformation is peripheral (not a central, important part of the event)
What factors decrease susceptibility to the misinformation effect?
- Information blatantly contradicts what was witnesses (so you don’t take on central misinformation, and are less likely to take on peripheral)
- source is not credible
- witness is forewarned they might encounter misinformation BUT telling them after a week that they have encountered misinformation does not help
- they make a public statement about it - so they stick with their story after this
- less time between the event and presentation of misinformation (memory trace is stronger)
What can be done about the misinformation effect?
- statements should be obtained _____ following an incident
- ______ recall tools help elicit a comprehensive _______ from eyewitnesses and _______ the quality and quantity of accurate information.
eg: Self-administered interview (paper and pencil booklet for witnesses). - completing this booklet minimises memory _______, maintains ______ and ______ memories from contamination.
- But it is not useful for ______ events (eg: domestic violence, witnesses who don’t come fwd straight away, low literacy, etc), and it is very _______ and _______.
- Hence, Helen has developed an app called “iWitnessed”
ASAP immediate statement increase decay accuracy protects ongoing generic inflexible
