PSYC 3310 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Eyewitness Identification, Suggestibility, Psych
30 Nov 2016
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Psych and law- chapter 5- eyewitness identification and testimonies. When eyewitnesses describe a criminal or pick a suspect out of a lineup, they are relying on memory. Encoding- involves gathering information and putting it in a form that can be held in memory. Storage- refers to holding the encoded information in the brain over time. Retrieval- refers to accessing and pulling out the stored information at a later time. Errors in memory can occur at each stage of the process. First, information regarding the witnessed event might not be well encoded. Even when we do make an effort to pay attention, our attention sometimes lapses and crucial information does not get stored. What we do store in memory is a selective, inexact replica of what we saw. Second, imperfections can also occur in the process of storage. Our memory trace- the biochemical representation of our experience in the brain- appears to deteriorate with time.
