Eyewitness testimony

Definition

Eyewitness testimony refers to the account given by individuals who have witnessed an event, typically a crime, and are asked to recall and describe what they observed. This type of testimony is often seen as powerful evidence in legal settings but can be influenced by various factors, including memory distortions and social influences, which impact its reliability in social contexts and criminal justice applications.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Eyewitness testimony can be significantly affected by the way questions are posed, with leading questions often leading to false memories.
2. Stress and trauma during the event being witnessed can impair the accuracy of an eyewitness's memory.
3. Studies show that eyewitnesses are often overconfident in their recollections, which can lead to wrongful convictions.
4. Factors such as lighting, distance, and the presence of a weapon can distort what an eyewitness perceives and remembers.
5. Jurors often place a high degree of trust in eyewitness testimony, despite research indicating its unreliability in many situations.

Review Questions

• How does memory reconstruction affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony?
  • Memory reconstruction can greatly impact the accuracy of eyewitness testimony because it suggests that memories are not static; instead, they can change based on new information or context. When witnesses are prompted to recall an event, they may inadvertently alter their memories to fit expectations or suggestions, leading to inaccuracies. This means that what a witness reports may not fully reflect the actual events they observed.
• Discuss the implications of suggestibility on the validity of eyewitness testimony in legal cases.
  • Suggestibility poses significant challenges to the validity of eyewitness testimony in legal cases, as it demonstrates how easily a witness's recollection can be influenced by external factors. For instance, if law enforcement provides misleading information during questioning, it can lead a witness to incorporate this false information into their memory. This can result in inaccurate identifications or descriptions, raising concerns about wrongful convictions based on flawed eyewitness accounts.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive interviews in improving the reliability of eyewitness testimony.
  • Cognitive interviews have been shown to be effective in enhancing the reliability of eyewitness testimony by employing techniques designed to reduce suggestibility and encourage more accurate recall. By creating a supportive environment and utilizing specific questioning methods, such as asking witnesses to recreate the context of the event or describe it in various orders, investigators can help witnesses retrieve more accurate details. This approach not only aids memory retrieval but also minimizes the influence of leading questions, making eyewitness accounts more reliable in legal settings.

Related terms

Memory Reconstruction: The process by which memories are not just retrieved but also altered or reconstructed based on new information or context.

Suggestibility: The tendency of individuals to accept and integrate misleading information from external sources into their recollection of an event.

Cognitive Interview: A method used by police and investigators to enhance the retrieval of memories from witnesses through specific questioning techniques that reduce suggestibility.