Changes in the Accuracy of Witness’ Testimonies
Introduction
Based on information gathered after an event, memory of said event (while this is applicable to just about any event in everyday life, the focus in this case is a crime) almost always differs from person to person based on differing perspectives, confidence levels, and unconscious reconstruction of the memory. In this report, reasoning as to why errors are made when eyewitnesses recall how a crime happened and possibly the perpetrator of the offence are discussed, as well as a few methods of how to lessen the chances of mistakes using a few ideas from Richard A. Wise’s “Method” that even now are being used as common protocol. Near the end, there are also a few ways to get a more …show more content…
It could be caused by plain old forgetfulness, which is common as well, but the true culprit is almost always post - event information. Post-event information is basically just information suggested to a person or absorbed into their mind relating to the incident, but they receive this information after the crime has happened, and “generally an eyewitness is unaware that his or her memory has been altered by post-event information that may or may not be accurate” (Wise & Safer, A Method for Analyzing the Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony in Criminal Cases, 2012). A memory can be altered by random information gained from other sources, such as other witnesses of the event, law enforcement officers, media, prosecutor(s), or even just from walking down the street. This information does not, and may not, have even a bit of relation to the investigation. For example, a person (who becomes a witness later) sees another person sometime before the crime was committed, and the other face sticks in their mind without them realizing it. When they are asked to report their view …show more content…
This occurrence is referred to as unconscious transference: “An eyewitness’s misidentification of an innocent bystander for a criminal perpetrator because of the witness’s exposure to the bystander in another context” (Read, Tollestrup, Hammersley, McFadzen, & Christensen, 2006). Unconscious transference is not the only way post-event information can tamper with a memory. If a witness communicates with others involved at the scene, it can change what their mind believes it saw, even if it is not intentionally misled. That is why eyewitnesses are
Introduction
Based on information gathered after an event, memory of said event (while this is applicable to just about any event in everyday life, the focus in this case is a crime) almost always differs from person to person based on differing perspectives, confidence levels, and unconscious reconstruction of the memory. In this report, reasoning as to why errors are made when eyewitnesses recall how a crime happened and possibly the perpetrator of the offence are discussed, as well as a few methods of how to lessen the chances of mistakes using a few ideas from Richard A. Wise’s “Method” that even now are being used as common protocol. Near the end, there are also a few ways to get a more …show more content…
It could be caused by plain old forgetfulness, which is common as well, but the true culprit is almost always post - event information. Post-event information is basically just information suggested to a person or absorbed into their mind relating to the incident, but they receive this information after the crime has happened, and “generally an eyewitness is unaware that his or her memory has been altered by post-event information that may or may not be accurate” (Wise & Safer, A Method for Analyzing the Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony in Criminal Cases, 2012). A memory can be altered by random information gained from other sources, such as other witnesses of the event, law enforcement officers, media, prosecutor(s), or even just from walking down the street. This information does not, and may not, have even a bit of relation to the investigation. For example, a person (who becomes a witness later) sees another person sometime before the crime was committed, and the other face sticks in their mind without them realizing it. When they are asked to report their view …show more content…
This occurrence is referred to as unconscious transference: “An eyewitness’s misidentification of an innocent bystander for a criminal perpetrator because of the witness’s exposure to the bystander in another context” (Read, Tollestrup, Hammersley, McFadzen, & Christensen, 2006). Unconscious transference is not the only way post-event information can tamper with a memory. If a witness communicates with others involved at the scene, it can change what their mind believes it saw, even if it is not intentionally misled. That is why eyewitnesses are