Eyewitness Testimony
What was the 5th option proposed by Gary Wells? Why was it not accepted
If we run the first lineup without any suspect and someone picks a suspect- he/she is not a good witness -did not accept because would result in a lower rate of conviction Individual may be a credible witness -possiblity if shown the lineup with actual suspect they would have picked actual suspect
What are repressed memories, provide an example
Repressed memories are memories that have been unconsciously blocked due to the memory being associated with a high level of stress or trauma Victims of childhood sexual abuse say that they are unable to remember the events as they have repressed it -bipolar disorder- woman's son committed suicide ask mother- who found the body, she says she can't remember - when she actually found the body- memory too overwhelming therefore she has repressed it
Describe the statistics from Loftus 1979 that shows the impact of eye witness testimony in a Robbery/murder case and when witness was discredited
Robbery/murder case had an 18% conviction rate jumps to 72% with addition of eyewitness When witness is discredited - it was too dark, too far away-compensation- conviction rate only dropped to 68% Marvin Anderson- no evidence , picked him up because the guy who raped her bragged that he was a black guy who had a white girlfriend,
What are some reasons for DNA testing not being done often
very expensive but DNA evidence is often necessary to overturn a conviction
What are some of the effects of having a mistaken identification
-perp still out there and can reoffend - guilt of witnesses who made mistaken identifications -innocent persons sent to jail
Composite sketch
-sketch artist -bad record of drawing accurate images of the person individual has been interviewed many times and by the time they speak with the sketch artist, memory is distorted and they don't provide an accurate description Some sketch artist prefer victims to speak to them first before being interviewed by the police as memory would be less distorted Discussion or questioning about events can alter or add to memory
According to Gary Wells, what are some factors that affect eyewitness accuracy
-variations in questioning- police can distort the - giving or not giving instructions that offender may not be in the lineup -witness recognition when suspects are presented sequentially/simultaneous lineup -presence of a weapon- increases level of fear in victim = when a weapon is prominent it becomes difficult to focus on face, clothing etc.
Provide an example using the Loftus studies that shows how easy it is to construct a memory with adults
Adults asked to imagine Trip, fell and broke a window at a party When asked on a second occasion if this had occurred, -1/4 adults remembered it as something that actually happened despite it never occurring Simply asking persons to imagine an event/experience, resulted in them developing and adopting it as a memory
Provide an example using the Loftus studies that shows how easy it is to construct a memory with children
Asked children to imagine a time they were lost in the mall Bring them back 3-4 weeks later and ask them if they've ever been lost in the mall -1/3 remember being lost in the mall despite it never happened -Simply asking them to imagine it had them to develop and adopt a memory of being lost in the mall -the more emotion there is, the more likely you are to remember but when nerves and shock set it, likely not to remember Children remember their finger being caught in mouse trap despite it never happening One child even claims to remember going to the doctor to treat his finger. Adamant that the memory could not be false
What are some alternative identification procedures
Cold mugshot search Walkthrough procedure Show up procedure "Oklahoma lineup" Composite sketch Identi-Kit and Photo-Fit
What are the 4 strategies suggested by Gary Wells for conducting a proper police lineup
Double blind procedure Instructions to the Witness unbiased lineup/ matching to appearance strategy use a sequential lineup confidence ratings of the witness a the time they make the estimate
Provide an example of unconscious transference
Dr Thompson- patient accuses him of sexually assaulting her but he has an alibi - at tv station giving an interview at the fallibility of memory He suggested that the patient knows he is going to be on TV and she's home that day and decided to watch him on TV -person broke into house and assaulted her when being assaulted- looked at tv, staring at therapist, unconscious transference
Eye Witness Research What are estimator variables
Estimator variables are those that affect the accuracy of eyewitness identifications, but cannot be controlled by the legal system. Their impact can only be estimated.
What is the most damaging/influential form of testimony, even more influential than a confession
Eyewitness Testimony
Explain a finding by Wells which indicates the impact of eyewitness testimonies
Gary Wells 1981 even with poor conditions, such as it was impossible to see the person, too dark, person was too far 62% still,l believed eyewitness believe eyewitness because assume that person has no reason to lie, person confident because we think our memory is infallible, don't understand confabulation is common part of all memories 1980-both correct and incorrect eyewitnesses were believed 80% of the time
Provide an example of eyewitness misidentification with Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton
Jennifer Thompson was sexually assaulted Police gives her a photos of suspects however, she was unable to recognize anyone She was then asked to identify suspect from a line up recognizes Ronald Cotton and assumes she is recognizes the rapist but what she recognized was the memory of his face in the photos the police gave her in the hospital- However, was certain that she had identified her attacker- said that he had same facial features, hair etc -unconscious transference Ronald Cotton- convicted for JT's rape Whilst in prison, another man named Bobby Poole boasts about raping JT When in the court room, JT was unable to identify Robby Poole- said that she had never seen him before Ronald Cotton was exonerated based on DNA evidence
Explain the study conducted by Loftus concerning he fallibility of eye witness identification/ Describe the method and results of Loftus' 1979 Eyewitness Identification e experiment with the stop and yield signs
Participants watched a video of a red car at a stop sign or a yield. Participants are then asked whether a car passed the red car whilst it was at the stop sign or at the yield sign. When asked later, what kind of traffic sign they personally remembered seeing at the intersection, those who were asked whether they saw the vehicle at the stop sign reported seeing a stop sign in the video despite it being a yield sign those who were asked whether they saw the vehicle at the yield sign reported seeing a yield sign in the video despite it being a stop sign Leading question influenced participants answers, the use of the words "stop sign" or "yield sign" resulted in them developing memories that these signs were present in the videos
Explain the study by Loftus and Palmer that shows the influence of wording or language/ leading questions on witness statements
Participants watched a video of a vehicular accident When participants asked How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other? participants reported higher speeds than when asked How fast were the cars going when they hit each other. simply changing the word from hit to smash- significantly increased testaments of speed change testimony based on language used in the question "smashed" question led more people to later falsely claim that they had seen broken glass when there was none "smashed" question also led to persons remembering broken headlights when there were none
Show up procedure "Oklahoma lineup"
Person is handcuffed and walked by two officers at either side and shown on TV -as soon as she saw the image, she identified him -memory seemingly became clear it was him biases witness
What are the two components of a line up
Photo line-ups "head and shoulder photos Distractors - lineup members other than the suspect, however, all the people in the photographs or in the lineup should resemble each other and all should match the witness's verbal description of the offender. Marvin Anderson- when photo line up showed to victim, there were mug shots as distractors in black and white but his picture in all colour, bigger picture -his picture stood out therefore, she picked it
Identi-Kit and Photo-Fit
Photo-Fit pick and eyes, nose, ears from various computer photos and form a composite Indents-Kit form a composite of images of different eyes, noses, mouths etc, that have been drawn
Provide an example of a false memory and memory construction using Reform Party MP Jack Ramsay
Ramsay -accused of sexually assaulting a first nations woman when she was 13 years she has recovered this memory years after triggered by seeing him at a funeral However, he was not at funeral- was out of province-mistaken about seeing him at the funeral It has been suggested that she had been sexually assaulted by a different RCMP officer in her youth- Given that she made a mistake about seeing him at the funeral and had a history of drug and alcohol addiction- not the most credible witness Case was settled out of court and asked to step down from parliament Psychologists suggest unconscious transference
Unbiased line up How is a sequential line up performed? What are some advantages of a sequential lineup -absolute and relative judgments
Sequential line up an eyewitness sees one person (or photograph) at a time, decides whether or not that person was the perpetrator, When presented sequentially, witnesses use absolute judgement- IDs perp based on their memory and the individual present Simultaneous lineup, several people (photos) are standing side by side In simultaneous line ups witnesses compare the people and identifies someone who looks most like the criminal- using relative judgment
What are some associations formed to protect persons who were wrongly accused?
The Innocence Project Association of the Defense for the Wrongfully Convicted
What could account for JT's misidentification?
Under trauma, sexual assault etc- memory is very fallible recognizes Ronald Cotton and assumes she is recognizes the rapist but what she recognized was the memory of his face in the photos the police gave her in the hospital- unconscious transference
What is the relationship between confidence and witness accuracy
The more confident the witness, the more likely they are to be wrong -correlation between confidence and accuracy not strong but problem is we believe a confident witness is the best witness but confidence not reliable indicator of accuracy confidence can sometimes be misleading Example- Jennifer Thompson, 100% confident- but turns out she was wrong
Why are witnesses whose memory for trivial details is poor usually the most accurate witnesses
The more details remembered about the scene, the less details remembered about the face and victim -if you remember tiles, carpet etc. probably not focusing on individual's face etc.
What is unconscious transference
Unconscious transference refers to an eyewitness's misidentification of an innocent person for a criminal perpetrator because -wrongly identified closely resembles the real perpetrator person wrongly identified is someone seen near the scene of the crime or someone seen during part of the identification process. A face that is familiar from one context is transferred to the scene of a crime
What are system variables Provide some examples
Variables that affect the accuracy of eyewitness identifications however, they can be controlled by the legal system Example control how a witness is questioned instruction given to witness method used to select persons for the line up interview style
Walkthrough procedure
Walkthrough procedure -someone in their own environment, crouch down in the back seat and identify person
Explain the impact of weapon focus/presence of a weapon on eyewitness testimony
Weapon focus - if someone holds a gun to our face our fight or flight response is activated- all attention is focused on gun- not the eyes of person or their face We are unable to identify person's face because we are focused on the gun Sometimes we are unaware that we are only looking at the gun this so we attempt to identify the individual But attention is truly focused on the gun
What are memories influenced by?
easy to distort and/or create memories Memory is strongly influenced by our views, attitudes and beliefs at the time of recall
What is the leading cause of wrongful convictions?
eyewitness misidentification
False Identification What is the most common reason for convicting the innocent.
false identification In U.S. 77000 cases founded on eyewitness identification are tried each year. Difficult to over turn convictions penrod and cutler-100K wrongful convictions based on false identifications over 400 persons misidentified persons in staged crimes, could not identify persons they had seen 5 minutes ago
Describe the study conducted by Schooler, 1986 where Psychologists were unable to tell the difference between real and implanted memories
implanted memories- individuals remember an event that never happened. memories feel like they are true, Difficult to differentiate between real memories and implanted memories
Provide some examples of estimator variables
lighting conditions, distance, arousal, the presence of weapons, Age, gender, race, emotional state, witness eye-sight
What are confidence ratings? Why are they used
obtain a clear statement/ confident rating at the time the perp is identified and before feedback is given to the witness confidence is likely to change between the time of the lineup and the time of the trial, - confidence usually increases- discrepancies can be noted allows one to determine how certain the individual is about correctly identifying a suspect also can be used to determine whether witness is credible or not
Unbiased LineUp What is the matching to appearance strategy in lineups
people in the photographs or in the lineup should all match the witness's verbal description of the offender. distractors should also match the description don't have to look the similar, they just have to match the witness's oral description Example- suspects should be the same ethnicity, size etc.
Explain the importance of instructions to the witness and provided some examples of the types of instructions that should be provided
tell eyewitnesses that the true criminal might not be in the lineup or photograph spread -you don't have to pick someone removes the presumption that the witness must choose someone from the available options. reduces eyewitness misidentification
Explain the double blind procedure and the advantages of using this method
the person conducting the lineup or photograph spread should not be aware of which member of the lineup is the suspect If individual knows who the suspect is he/she can unintentionally influence the eyewitness example- may say take to eyewitness take your time when looking at the suspect or subtle unconscious cues such as coughing, voice inflection reinforcement can raise witness confidence levels-confidence trumps accuracy
Cold mugshot search Cons
witness shown books of mugshots of everyone who's been arrested and asked to identify a suspect -futile -contaminated witness by exposing them to every criminal - harder to identify person
Jurors belief of Eyewitnesses What types of eyewitnesses are jurors more likely to believe
witnesses whose memory for trivial details is poor, but these are usually the most accurate witnesses
