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An "eyewitness testimony" is a legal term referring to an account given by people of an event they have witnessed, but is it reliable? Police have relied heavily on eyewitness testimonies in the convictions on many criminals for many years, but no they are starting to see why they may not be the most reliable source in solving any crime. Here's why:
Anxiety: Studies show that anxiety or stress is almost always involved in violent crimes today. A study performed by Clifford and Scott in 1978 found that after watching a stressful, violent film, the viewers remembered fewer details and important parts of the movie than those who watched a slightly less stressful version. This has to do with the psychology of a traumatic event. During a violent event, the eyewitnesses may lose memory of some important parts as their brain tries to forget the stressful circumstances.
Reconstructive memory: Some people believe that human memory is similar to that of a videotape, recording certain information and playing it back in our memory they way we first saw it. However, memory does not work this way! We do not store information for it is presented to us, rather we remember the underlying purpose or what we believe to be important. In a famous study "War of Ghosts" (1932), Bartlett shows us that memory is not a factual recorded of what has occurred in the past, as humans "we make effort after the meaning". This means that we try to fit what we remember with what we know really happened. it seems as though each of us "reconstructs" our memories to conform to our personal beliefs of what happened.
Weapon focus: In crimes where dangerous weapons are involved, it is not uncommon for the witness to be able to describe the weapon in greater detain than the person holding it. In 1978 Lotus de al. showed that participants slides of a customer in a restaurant. Half were shown the customer with a gun, the other half was shown the same customer holding a checkbook instead. Those who were shown the photo of the customer with the gun focused on the weapon rather than the person holding it and were later less successful in identifying the customer in a crowd.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |