Eyewitnesses: A Very Brief Summary

Eyewitness testimonies are based on a person’s ability to recall what took place accurately. Memory research has proven that a person’s memory is not a recording but it is reconstructive. Loftus and Palmer’s study set out to prove that the memory could be reconstructed through the use of language.

Research shows that the human mind is not like a tape recorder, we neither record events exactly as we see them, nor recall them like a tape that has been rewound. Instead, witness memory is like any other evidence at a crime scene; it must be preserved carefully, or it can be contaminated. A case I would like to mention is the Calvin Willis Case. One night in 1982, three young girls were sleeping alone in a Shreveport, Louisiana home when a man in cowboy boots came into the house and raped the oldest girl, who was Ten years old. When police started to investigate the rape, the three girls all remembered the attack differently. One police report said the Ten year old victim didn’t see her attacker’s face. Another report which wasn’t introduced at trial said she identified Calvin Willis, who lived in the neighbourhood. The girl’s mother testified at trial that neighbours had mentioned Willis’s name when discussing who might have committed the crime. The victim testified that she was shown photos and told to pick the man without a full beard. She testified that she didn’t pick anyone, police said she picked Willis. Willis was convicted by a jury and sentenced to life in prison. In 2003, DNA testing proved Willis’ innocence and he was released. He had served nearly Twenty Two years in prison for a crime he didn’t

Eyewitness testimonies can be the reason why a person is convicted for an offence they may or may not have committed. Psychological research shows that eyewitness testimony is not always accurate and the memory can be altered. Elizabeth Loftus is a psychological researcher that studies the mind and false memories. Studies and experiments by Elizabeth Loftus, Florida Atlantic University psychologists and many other psychologists provide evidence that supports the theory that memories can be altered and therefore eyewitness testimonies are not always accurate.

Diamond, B. L. (1980). Inherent problems in the use of pretrial hypnosis on a prospective witness. California Law Review, 68(2), 313-349.

1) The problem of a witness recall of memory based on psychiatric intervention- the evidence of which is unreliable

False memories are often an issue that comes up in the courts, when a witness testifies. Loftus conducted a study on members of the military. These members were being trained in handling interrogations in the event that they were captured by the enemy. They underwent a very stressful physical interrogation.

Suggestions lead to misinformation, which leads to wrongful convictions. Paz-Alonso and Goodman (2008) stated that in the Moscow terrorist bombings, researchers talked to witnesses after the attack and indicated that others saw wounded animals in the attack. About 13% of the participants accepted the information as true. The acceptance of false information can be effected by the time difference of the event and the misinformation (Paz-Alonso and Goodman, 2008, p. 59-62). There is not a basic science to how we recall things or how memories can be manipulated by suggestions. Knowing that suggestions could change the way a witness remembers something, could mean that police officers need to change the way they ask a person what they saw and not to make suggestions. The more time that passes from an event, the harder it can be to remember a situation or get information correctly. Paz-Alonso and Goodman (2008) conducted a study of how time and retention intervals can lead to wrong responses. The participants in the study showed that just after two weeks the retention of memories had a much higher rate of misled information. Time can cause a memory to fade or even cause some details change (p. 59). In California, the time between the day a crime was committed to the trial date can be vary. Over that period of time a witness could start to have trouble remembering the

In the late 1800’s Professor James McKeen Cattell was at the forefront of forensic psychology. Intrigued by the validity of eyewitness accounts, he conducted an informal study among 56 college students. Students were questioned regarding events from

They suspect individuals who consider that hypnosis can induce involuntary acts just perceive it incorrectly. They acknowledge nine cases involving sexual assaults and a case where someone killed their pet after being told they would desire to if they continued their way as an overeater. However, they argue that these cases don’t prove there is an involuntary component and one can’t conclude that hypnosis was the main weapon used due to cases that are similar not involving hypnosis. In addition, they think hypnotists who have this belief possibly either have had the belief reinforced by their patients or they weren’t trained in more than the basics. The suggestion of training therapists longer can prove to be crucial for therapeutic

It is a common misconception that the human memory is accurate and reliable (Poston, 2014). For example, the supposition that memory is mostly dependable forms a major part of the legal system. Judges, attorneys and juries are inclined to trust the testimony of a confident eyewitness (Van Wallendael et al., 2007) and confessions are considered among the most compelling forms of evidence (e.g., Cutler, 2012; Kassin, Bogart, & Kerner, 2012). However, 30 years of ground-breaking work by Elizabeth Loftus around the theory of false memory has cast doubt over the role memory should play in legal proceedings (Loftus, 2005). Loftus defines false memory as a phenomenon that occurs when a person believes they remember something that did not actually

A forensic psychologist conducted a study to examine whether being hypnotized during recall affects how a witness can remember facts about an event. Eight participants watched a short film of a mock robbery, after which each participant was questioned about what he or she had seen. The four participants in the experimental group were questioned while they were hypnotized and gave 15, 22, 18, and 17 accurate responses. The four participants in the control group gave 20, 25, 24, and 23 accurate responses. Using the 0.05 significance level, do hypnotized witnesses perform differently than witnesses who are not

It was documented that false memories were evidently present in behavioural reenactments of childhood victimization, alcohol induced blackouts and outright lying (Rubin, 1996). In forensic investigation, hypnosis is usually employed to aid in criminal investigations to try and access consciously forgotten information that victims or witnesses think they do, or might, possess. A hypnotic procedure is typically used to encourage and evaluate responses to suggestions through focused attention. In hypnosis, a person will be guided by a hypnotist to enhance respond to suggestions for changes in subjective experience, alterations in perception, sensation, emotion, thought or behavior (Mauera, Buenett, Ouellette, Ironson & Dandes,

Prior to reading this chapter, I absolutely had preconceived notions concerning hypnosis. I was extremely skeptical about the ability to transform someone into a subconscious state of mind and have them voluntarily recall information about their past. Yet, on the other hand, I’ve always been terrified of the idea of being hypnotized. I, like many others, have been told stories about individuals that have been hypnotized for one reason or another and were made to perform embarrassing behaviors. For example, one may be told when they hear a phone ring they are to bark like a dog. The connection between the ring and barking remains until someone transforms them back into their conscious state of mind. As silly as that sounds, it’s that thought

Throughout further exploration of suppressed memories, scientists found that there are also false memories. False memories are ideas found from psychoanalysis that prove to be false that could have either been the product of wrong wording through suggestion of the hypnotist or the hypnotized person remembering wrong information. A major problem with this is that it can sway the verdict of court cases. For example, The Salem Witch Trials fall victim to false memories. Through questioning of people in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to find out who the witches are in the area, people under hypnosis were able to give examples of evidence that they saw without actually seeing it. This could be because of the wording of suggestion within the hypnosis process or the biased thought of the person being questioned. Because of these false claims, many people lost their freedom and even their lives (“Hypnosis”) (Expand into depth more about false memories to take out the paragraph about it in the

London, a well-known local in the San Francisco Bay Area, his narrative “Story of An Eyewitness’ argues that in times of tragedies, is able to link communities together while maintaining diligence and respect. His purpose is to grant people the knowledge about the tragedy of the 1906 earthquake and to show spirited natives resilient to the earthquake. He writes in sympathetic tone to show his attitude towards the earthquake. London is able to fulfill his argument by showing the dying city, melting everyone to its core and how people are reacting to it.