Are Eyewitness Identifications Reliable?
Are Eyewitness Identifications Reliable
Guneet Singh
Roll no: 5826632
HAY 120
Introduction to Forensic Psychology
Are Eyewitnesses identifications Reliable? Eyewitness testimony is the description an onlooker gives in court, unfolding what they saw had happened at a specific occasion which is been investigated. It mainly includes identification of perpetrators or the details of the crime scene. Mainly recollection of events is detailed, but not always. This recollection is the proof to demonstrate what happened from witness’s perception. In past, Memory recall had been the most reliable source of information but recently forensic psychologists had claimed that memories and individual observations could be unreliable as it could be differently moulded, modified and biased. However, many countries are making changes in how eyewitness testimony is presented in court. Since early 20th century, many psychologists had questioned the reliability of eyewitness testimony. Its believability was first questioned by Hugo Munsterberg, who first developed the field of forensic psychology. He doubted the consistency of observation and memory in “On the Witness stand”. Eyewitness testimony is a significant region of research in cognitive psychology and human memory. Research has shown that juries are often unable to differentiate between a false and accurate eyewitness testimony. The confidence level of the witness is often seen by jurors to connect with accuracy of their statements. Psychology had built scientific literucture on eyewitness identification and cautioned justice system with the issues associated with it. Eyewitness testimony research’s looks at systematic variables or estimator variables. Estimator varibales can be categorised in four main sections: characteristics of the witness, testimony, or testimony evaluators and events. Systematic variables are variables which have or are possibility controlled by justice system. The following two
Guneet Singh
Roll no: 5826632
HAY 120
Introduction to Forensic Psychology
Are Eyewitnesses identifications Reliable? Eyewitness testimony is the description an onlooker gives in court, unfolding what they saw had happened at a specific occasion which is been investigated. It mainly includes identification of perpetrators or the details of the crime scene. Mainly recollection of events is detailed, but not always. This recollection is the proof to demonstrate what happened from witness’s perception. In past, Memory recall had been the most reliable source of information but recently forensic psychologists had claimed that memories and individual observations could be unreliable as it could be differently moulded, modified and biased. However, many countries are making changes in how eyewitness testimony is presented in court. Since early 20th century, many psychologists had questioned the reliability of eyewitness testimony. Its believability was first questioned by Hugo Munsterberg, who first developed the field of forensic psychology. He doubted the consistency of observation and memory in “On the Witness stand”. Eyewitness testimony is a significant region of research in cognitive psychology and human memory. Research has shown that juries are often unable to differentiate between a false and accurate eyewitness testimony. The confidence level of the witness is often seen by jurors to connect with accuracy of their statements. Psychology had built scientific literucture on eyewitness identification and cautioned justice system with the issues associated with it. Eyewitness testimony research’s looks at systematic variables or estimator variables. Estimator varibales can be categorised in four main sections: characteristics of the witness, testimony, or testimony evaluators and events. Systematic variables are variables which have or are possibility controlled by justice system. The following two