Lesson 3

Question 1

What are the most important causes of miscarriages of justice (when a person is convicted of a crime which he or she did not commit = false conviction)?

Answer 1

• eye witness
• false confessions
• informants
• inaccuracies in DNA/forensic sciences

Question 2

Retention of memory: after 9 hours people can usually recall about:
A 62%
B 44%
C 38%
D 26%

Answer 2

C 38%

Question 3

True or false: the formulation of a question can evoke changes in someones memory.

Answer 3

True, a suggestive question for instance of the use of certain words can definitely influence our perception and memory.

Question 4

What is a mug shot?

Answer 4

A photograph of someones face from the front and the sides, the typical suspect-foto.

Question 5

What are three ways to assess an eye witness?

Answer 5

• compositions (samenstellen van het gezicht van een verdachte)
• mug shot (foto’s van verdachten laten zien)
• line-up

Question 6

True or false: the best way to assess eye witnesses is to use all three options (mug shots, line up and compositions) in whatever order.

Answer 6

False, if pictures of possible suspects are shown (mug shots) before a line up, eye witnesses are more likely to ‘recognize’ the suspect who is previously showed in the mug shots as the criminal.

Question 7

True or false: when it comes to a line up, it is always best to use a sequential line up (where suspects are viewed one by one).

Answer 7

False, there is no best way for this.

Question 8

How much time is needed to recognize a victim (in a line up)?
A 1-3 seconds
B 7-9 seconds
C 10-12 seconds
D 15-18 seconds

Answer 8

C 10-12 seconds