Eyewitness Testimony Research Paper
Eyewitness testimony has been used frequently over time in various situations. It sometimes holds more merit then some facts or evidence. Yet it is also the reason why many innocent people go to jail and criminals still walk free. Eyewitness testimony has been used for over 100 years. It has played a major part in convicting criminals, from the common thief to the most dangerous murderer. However, with the time between incident and testimony or even report can vary drastically, the quality of eyewitness testimony wasn 't really recognized as an issue until the 1970 's. With plenty of unsolved crimes and not enough evidence eyewitness testimony was all that was needed. Now with psychologists holding scientific studies to see if it is reliable;
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These wrongful convictions played a major role in more than 75% of wrongful convictions overturned by DNA testing (The Innocence Project, 2010). Although eyewitness testimony can be critical evidence before a judge or jury; 30 years of strong social science research has proven that eyewitness identification is often unreliable. The research which was conducted by the Innocence Project revealed that the human mind is not like a tape recorder or video camera; we neither record events exactly as we see them, nor recall the instance exactly how it occurred. Nevertheless, witness memory is like any other evidence at a crime scene, it must be documented carefully and retrieved methodically and quickly, or it can be contaminated (The Innocence project 2010). We as people can carry fibers, through our clothing, skin and hair that can cause the contamination of a crime scene just by not following proper procedure. Furthermore, in these types of cases, DNA has proven what scientists already know, that eyewitness identification is frequently …show more content…
& Geiselman, R.E. (1992) Memory Enhancing Techniques for Investigative Interviewing: The Cognitive Interview. Charles C. Thomas Publishers. Springfield Illinois.
Fivush, R. Peterson, C. & Schwarzmueller, A. (2000). 'Questions and Answers: The Credibility of Child Witnesses in the Context of Specific Questioning Techniques ', in Memory and Suggestibility in the Forensic Interview, M Eisen, J Quas & GS Goodman (eds), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, New Jersey.
Gray, P. (1999). Psychology. 3rd edn. Worth Publishers Inc. Boston.
Kamira, J. (2002). Revisiting the Interview - Cognitive Interviewing and Communication for General Duties Police. (In Print.)
Kapardis, A. (1997). 'Children as Witnesses ', in Psychology and Law: A Critical Introduction. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Loftus, Elizabeth. Creating False Memories. Scientific American. September 1997: 30-35.
Loftus, E., & Palmer, J. (1974). Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An
Example of the Interaction Between Language and Memory. Journal of
Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour, 13
McCloskey, M., & Zaragoza, M. (1985). Misleading Post Event Information and Memory for Events: Arguments and Evidence against Memory Impairment Hypotheses. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,
These wrongful convictions played a major role in more than 75% of wrongful convictions overturned by DNA testing (The Innocence Project, 2010). Although eyewitness testimony can be critical evidence before a judge or jury; 30 years of strong social science research has proven that eyewitness identification is often unreliable. The research which was conducted by the Innocence Project revealed that the human mind is not like a tape recorder or video camera; we neither record events exactly as we see them, nor recall the instance exactly how it occurred. Nevertheless, witness memory is like any other evidence at a crime scene, it must be documented carefully and retrieved methodically and quickly, or it can be contaminated (The Innocence project 2010). We as people can carry fibers, through our clothing, skin and hair that can cause the contamination of a crime scene just by not following proper procedure. Furthermore, in these types of cases, DNA has proven what scientists already know, that eyewitness identification is frequently …show more content…
& Geiselman, R.E. (1992) Memory Enhancing Techniques for Investigative Interviewing: The Cognitive Interview. Charles C. Thomas Publishers. Springfield Illinois.
Fivush, R. Peterson, C. & Schwarzmueller, A. (2000). 'Questions and Answers: The Credibility of Child Witnesses in the Context of Specific Questioning Techniques ', in Memory and Suggestibility in the Forensic Interview, M Eisen, J Quas & GS Goodman (eds), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, New Jersey.
Gray, P. (1999). Psychology. 3rd edn. Worth Publishers Inc. Boston.
Kamira, J. (2002). Revisiting the Interview - Cognitive Interviewing and Communication for General Duties Police. (In Print.)
Kapardis, A. (1997). 'Children as Witnesses ', in Psychology and Law: A Critical Introduction. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Loftus, Elizabeth. Creating False Memories. Scientific American. September 1997: 30-35.
Loftus, E., & Palmer, J. (1974). Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An
Example of the Interaction Between Language and Memory. Journal of
Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour, 13
McCloskey, M., & Zaragoza, M. (1985). Misleading Post Event Information and Memory for Events: Arguments and Evidence against Memory Impairment Hypotheses. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General,