Memory Reliability
Many people convicted solely on eyewitness testimony
Study- Have people witness stimulated crimes and then attempt to pick out the person in a lineup, participants were accurate only between 13% and 32% however, potential jurors think it is much higher
Example: George W Busch memory of where he was when 9/11 happened, says 3 different variations in interviews, all similar but slightly different showing he most likely remembers a little differently as time goes on, which is similar to what could happen to an eyewitness
Post 9/11 76% of New Yorkers claimed they saw footage of first plane hitting tower right after it occurred, however the footage wasn't released until the morning after
Visual images can bring out memory errors- Wrong time slice errors, news and more can affect memories
Narrative Construction
Idea that when constructing a narrative, people sometimes reconstruct gaps in course based on a script idea of what generally happens in a situation
Sometimes reason story out, can reconstruct as they go starting with the last thing they remember and working backwards
Often use confidence to determine if they are reconstructing a memory
False memories are common and happen to everyone (Hillary Clinton landing in Bosnia example)
Look at memory in 3 stages : Encoding, storage, and retrieval
Encoding - whether eyewitness actually acquired any memory of the incident in the first place, failure of encoding is when the information never becomes a memory in the first place, your brain can fill in blank spaces of a bigger picture with little things that were not there to interpret the information, reconstructs an impression that makes sense, everyone sees different things
Storage - whether they can keep memory intact overtime, Transport research laboratory in UK found 30% of people totally forget their car crash happened. Stored memories can be tapered by a video, written account, or talk to someone who experienced same thing with different view. can plant memories into peoples minds easily, false memories
Retrieval- If they can report memory for a future date, can fail if still present in their brains but cant access it, doesnt have to be false memories but the way a question is asked can affect how they retrieve it (different responses when 2 groups were asked how fast the cars from going when they HIT each other or when they SMASHED each other, those asked with the word smashed all gave a faster time estimate research by Elizabeth Loftus at University of Washington).
Weapon focus effect- when a weapon is used by a criminal it impairs the witness because they are drawn to it and not the criminals face because they are so scared or feel threatened, training officers to see different types of weapons could help this
Forensic Hypnosis
Hypnosis can be used to improve eyewitness recall, especially when they experience trauma
Chowchilla kidnapping case- 1976 12 kids and school bus driver abducted at gunpoint and herded into vans where they were taken to a cave with a sealed entrance, they dug their way out and when
driver was trying to memorize license plates was traumatized but when hypnotized could recall one of the vans license plate and they were than caught.
Even small details can help, remembering suspect used credit card at gas station, could then track down station and card leading to arrest
Marilyn Smith study suggests hypnosis may help people think a detail is important while under hypnosis that they may not deem important in real life
Details may still be incorrect
Always have to assume they may not be true
Cognitive Interview
Edward Fisher of the University of California and Ronald Geiselman of Florida International University developed this procedure
Used memory research which tells us memory traces are complex and contain different kinds of information
Encoding specificity principle by Endel Tulving of University of Toronto
When something is remembered, it is encoded with respect to context in which it is studied
Probability of remembering something depends on the degree of overlap between information present at retrieval and info stored in memory
Uses these principles of memory retrieval to help witnesses maximize their chances of recalling the events of a crime
Cognitive interview vs. regular saw between 25% and 35% more information than standard police interview
recruited 16 detectives in Florida, initial stage of study they recorded and analyzed 5-7 interviews by each detective over 4 months, then chose half of them to train in cognitive interviews, then monitoring interviews by both groups, found a 47% increase in number of facts recalled compared to standard police interview
Many people convicted solely on eyewitness testimony
Study- Have people witness stimulated crimes and then attempt to pick out the person in a lineup, participants were accurate only between 13% and 32% however, potential jurors think it is much higher
Example: George W Busch memory of where he was when 9/11 happened, says 3 different variations in interviews, all similar but slightly different showing he most likely remembers a little differently as time goes on, which is similar to what could happen to an eyewitness
Post 9/11 76% of New Yorkers claimed they saw footage of first plane hitting tower right after it occurred, however the footage wasn't released until the morning after
Visual images can bring out memory errors- Wrong time slice errors, news and more can affect memories
Narrative Construction
Idea that when constructing a narrative, people sometimes reconstruct gaps in course based on a script idea of what generally happens in a situation
Sometimes reason story out, can reconstruct as they go starting with the last thing they remember and working backwards
Often use confidence to determine if they are reconstructing a memory
False memories are common and happen to everyone (Hillary Clinton landing in Bosnia example)
Look at memory in 3 stages : Encoding, storage, and retrieval
Encoding - whether eyewitness actually acquired any memory of the incident in the first place, failure of encoding is when the information never becomes a memory in the first place, your brain can fill in blank spaces of a bigger picture with little things that were not there to interpret the information, reconstructs an impression that makes sense, everyone sees different things
Storage - whether they can keep memory intact overtime, Transport research laboratory in UK found 30% of people totally forget their car crash happened. Stored memories can be tapered by a video, written account, or talk to someone who experienced same thing with different view. can plant memories into peoples minds easily, false memories
Retrieval- If they can report memory for a future date, can fail if still present in their brains but cant access it, doesnt have to be false memories but the way a question is asked can affect how they retrieve it (different responses when 2 groups were asked how fast the cars from going when they HIT each other or when they SMASHED each other, those asked with the word smashed all gave a faster time estimate research by Elizabeth Loftus at University of Washington).
Weapon focus effect- when a weapon is used by a criminal it impairs the witness because they are drawn to it and not the criminals face because they are so scared or feel threatened, training officers to see different types of weapons could help this
Forensic Hypnosis
Hypnosis can be used to improve eyewitness recall, especially when they experience trauma
Chowchilla kidnapping case- 1976 12 kids and school bus driver abducted at gunpoint and herded into vans where they were taken to a cave with a sealed entrance, they dug their way out and when
driver was trying to memorize license plates was traumatized but when hypnotized could recall one of the vans license plate and they were than caught.
Even small details can help, remembering suspect used credit card at gas station, could then track down station and card leading to arrest
Marilyn Smith study suggests hypnosis may help people think a detail is important while under hypnosis that they may not deem important in real life
Details may still be incorrect
Always have to assume they may not be true
Cognitive Interview
Edward Fisher of the University of California and Ronald Geiselman of Florida International University developed this procedure
Used memory research which tells us memory traces are complex and contain different kinds of information
Encoding specificity principle by Endel Tulving of University of Toronto
When something is remembered, it is encoded with respect to context in which it is studied
Probability of remembering something depends on the degree of overlap between information present at retrieval and info stored in memory
Uses these principles of memory retrieval to help witnesses maximize their chances of recalling the events of a crime
Cognitive interview vs. regular saw between 25% and 35% more information than standard police interview
recruited 16 detectives in Florida, initial stage of study they recorded and analyzed 5-7 interviews by each detective over 4 months, then chose half of them to train in cognitive interviews, then monitoring interviews by both groups, found a 47% increase in number of facts recalled compared to standard police interview
Great notes. Let's look at changing the template for the blog. It is not very reader friendly.
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