PSYC 2001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Short-Term Memory, Recognition Memory, Cognitive Interview
21 Aug 2016
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Document Summary
77% of wrongful convictions due to faulty eyewitness testimonies. The role of memory: perception/attention, encoding, short term memory. Recall memory: reporting details of a previously encountered event. Recognition event: determining whether a previously seen item or person is the same as witnessing now. Factors that are present at the time of crime that can"t be changed. Out of control of the legal system. Factors that can be changed or manipulated to increase/decrease accuracy of testimony. Direct questions: recall of perpetrator open ended questions, recognition of perpetrator. Primary goal: to extract complete and accurate report from witness. Common problems: interrupting witness, short specific questions, predetermined order of questions, suggestive or leading questions, memory conformity. One eyewitness report influences other eyewitness report. Witness is presented with inaccurate information (i. e. windows of the cars breaking) More likely to recall wrong information/incorporate information into testimony.
