Eyewitness Identification
The California Innocence Project website states that eyewitness misidentification is a primary cause of wrongful convictions. Up to a quarter of eyewitness identifications in cases of strangers are incorrect. Despite the high rate of error in eyewitness identification, eyewitnesses can provide the most damning evidence against a suspect. Several reasons explain the high error rate in eyewitness identification. One reason is the stress and anxiety that individuals feel when they are witnessing a crime. The high stress levels affect the ability of individuals to accurately remember the details of the crime, particularly if the witness is also the victim of the crime. In short, eyewitness misidentification is common because the brain does not function normally during a crime, which affects the individual’s recollection of the event. It is also worth noting that some law enforcement practices contribute to eyewitness misidentification (California Innocence Project, 2016). …show more content…
The constructive nature of memory is one of the reasons for the unreliability of eyewitness testimonies. The human brain does not record all the things that people see around them. Instead, the brain collects different pieces of information that are relevant to the situation. Consequently, eyewitness accounts may be flawed because as the brain attempts to reconstruct different bits of information, it might omit vital details (OpenStax College, 2016). The scenario is better understood when comparing human recollection to playing a video recording. When playing a video, all the events that occurred within the field of view of the camera can be seen on the recording. In contrast, the human brain recalls different pieces of information, which it attempts to connect to form a coherent
The California Innocence Project website states that eyewitness misidentification is a primary cause of wrongful convictions. Up to a quarter of eyewitness identifications in cases of strangers are incorrect. Despite the high rate of error in eyewitness identification, eyewitnesses can provide the most damning evidence against a suspect. Several reasons explain the high error rate in eyewitness identification. One reason is the stress and anxiety that individuals feel when they are witnessing a crime. The high stress levels affect the ability of individuals to accurately remember the details of the crime, particularly if the witness is also the victim of the crime. In short, eyewitness misidentification is common because the brain does not function normally during a crime, which affects the individual’s recollection of the event. It is also worth noting that some law enforcement practices contribute to eyewitness misidentification (California Innocence Project, 2016). …show more content…
The constructive nature of memory is one of the reasons for the unreliability of eyewitness testimonies. The human brain does not record all the things that people see around them. Instead, the brain collects different pieces of information that are relevant to the situation. Consequently, eyewitness accounts may be flawed because as the brain attempts to reconstruct different bits of information, it might omit vital details (OpenStax College, 2016). The scenario is better understood when comparing human recollection to playing a video recording. When playing a video, all the events that occurred within the field of view of the camera can be seen on the recording. In contrast, the human brain recalls different pieces of information, which it attempts to connect to form a coherent