Eyewitness Testimony Research Paper

Eyewitness testimony is where a witness will tell the jury what he or she has seen. This information is crucial because it can help the legal system identify the criminals quicker. The problem of eyewitness testimony is how the accuracy is not nearly one hundred percent. This causes problems because people can think they saw something or someone, when they actually saw something else. Their mind is tricking them because they thought of the thing closest to the actual thing. A hair dryer can look very similar to a gun, if the circumstance makes the object not clearly seen. An example could be a dark alley way. I do not know why someone would carry a hair dryer through a dark alley way, so I would also assume the person has a weapon. There are different factors which can affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. Situational factors and witness factors are two different factors that can affect the accuracy.

Situational factors appear depending on the situation at hand. Usually what happens is the event is happening so fast, the witness is unable to mentally process what is going on. This is a problem because the witness cannot give a clear picture of what happened. The less time a witness has to observe something, the less likely the witness will be able to recall what happened. Studying for a test is a good example because the more a person studies, the higher probability the student …show more content…
Confident witnesses are more likely to be treated as truthful witnesses over those who do not seem confident. This is how most situations are. If I feel confident on how well I did on an exam or a project, I am more likely to get a better score. If a witness is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they are more likely to recall less information. Witness factors determine the mental state of a witness during an event or