Eyewitness Testimony - Assignment PDF

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Jeremy Edwin Atchison PSY-102 March 26, 2021 Kevin Salcido Eyewitness Testimony Out of 40 cases that were found to have a false conviction by DNA evidence, 36 of them were due to inaccurate eyewitness testimonies (Grison, Heatherton, & Gazzaniga, 2016). With a conviction rate that high, solely based on eyewitness testimonies, it really raises the question as to how reliable memory really is. There have been many studies that go into depth about how much the recollection of a memory lacks the needed detail of an even to truly be accurate. In order for an eyewitness testimony to be reliable, the individual would have to pay attention to every detail while the event is occurring (Grison et al., 2016). Due to the fact that individuals can have distorted, inaccurate, and false memories, eyewitness testimonies should thereby be considered unreliable. False memories are largely to blame for inaccurate eyewitness testimonies. The influence of intentional or unintentional external misleading information or internal cognitive processes can lead to the development of a false memory (Wang, Otgaar, Smeets, Howe, Merkelbach, & Zhuo, 2018). For example, if the individual who is providing the eyewitness testimony is biased against the one who is being accused of the crime, there is a chance that they will misidentify them as the culprit based off of their attitudes and beliefs. Not only would this result in an innocent individual serving time for a crime they did not commit, but the one who made the false testimony can be held accountable and also face punishment. As for internal cognitive processes,

emotions can play a big role in the distortion of a memory. When someone has experienced a traumatic event and is the victim of a crime, the overwhelming feeling of stress or fear can cause them to believe details of a memory that actually did not occur (Wang et al., 2018). During a trial if the victim is asked to identify their perpetrator, there is the possibility that wanting the one who hurt them to be put away can cause them to misidentify the accused in order to receive a sense of closure and comfort. Therefore, eyewitness testimonies based off one’s memory of an event can be altered by one’s attitudes and beliefs, as well as their emotions. Distorted memories occur because everyone experiences events differently and can lead to an unreliable eyewitness testimony. Spatial and temporal distortions of an event can cause a witness to be unsure about the order in which things happened. For example, 13 witnesses of a police shooting were interviewed in order to determine the occurrence of events that took place (Dahl, Granér, Fransson, Bertilsson, & Fredriksson, 2018). The shooting was recorded on a cell phone and the witnesses accounts for events were compared to the video for an accurate analysis. While most of them were able to agree on the amount of shots that were fired as well as the obvious threat of the individual who was being pursued by the police, most of them were unable to correctly discern which shots caused the fatal wound and if it was before or after the assailant hit the ground. If there had been no video of the shooting and there was questioning about whether fatal force was needed, it is possible that the police officers involved could have been punished. This is another example as to why eyewitness testimony should not be one of the few major factors that go into gathering reliable evidence. In conclusion, eyewitness testimony has proven time and time again to not only be false in some cases, but very unreliable. Given the data provided from different research studies, there are many psychological and emotional factors that could potentially alter any and all aspects of

one’s recollection of a memory, which in turn could result in an innocent individual be stripped of their rights and imprisoned due to false testimony. The articles that were discussed today did a great job on elaborating the theories that go into proving the unreliability of memory and provided great examples as to how the memory has a way of changing depending on the situation at hand. False memories, distorted memories, and misinformation not only affect the recollection of a memory, but also the way in which details from an event are stored in one’s brain. The best thing for all future hearings to do would be to stick to the things that can be proven without a doubt, such as DNA evidence and concrete proof. This will ensure that lives are no longer ruined by such an unreliable source of information.

References

Dahl, M., Granér, S., Fransson, P., Bertilsson, J., & Fredriksson, P. (2018). Analysis of eyewitness testimony in a police shooting with fatal outcome – Manifestations of spatial and temporal distortions. Cogent Psychology, (1). https://doiorg.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/23311908.2018.1487271 Grison, S., Heatherton, T., & Gazzaniga, M. (2016). Psychology in your life (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Norton Publishing. ISBN-13: 9780393265156. http://www.gcumedia.com/digital-resources/ww-norton/2016/psychology-inyourlife_ebook_2e.php Wang, J., Otgaar, H., Smeets, T., Howe, M., Merckelbach, H., & Zhuo, C. (2018). Consequences of false memories in eyewitness testimony: A review and implications for chinese legal practice. Psychological Research on Urban Society, (1), 12. https://doiorg.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.7454/proust.v1i1.15...