Topic 3; collection of evidence Flashcards
what are identity parades?
identity parades are used when the police have a suspect and need a witness to confirm that they are the criminal; tends to be a line up of six individuals, including the suspect and ‘foils’
what are the weaknesses of identity parades?
- bias; the witnesses may feel under pressure to choose someone and so may use their unconscious biases to judge who the suspect/criminal is - this is because they make the assumption that one member of the lineup has to be the suspect
- the reactions from the police to correct line up identification could influence the outcome of eye witness testimony (Wells) - link to Loftus Palmer (the effect of leading questions on eye witness testimony)
- raises ethical issues; could cause distress and trauma if the victims are asked to identify the criminal
how can these weaknesses be approached?
- to reduce unconscious bias, the police can inform the witness that the suspect may not be in the lineup and also it would be beneficial if the members of the lineup are shown one at a time and asking to make a decision on each one individually
- a way to reduce bias within the police and witnesses is to conduct a double blind trial; this is so that the police are unaware of who the suspect is and who the foils are
how did Wells represent bias in identity parades?
- participants watched a poor quality video from a shop camera showing a man entering the store, they were then told that the man had murdered the security guard by shooting them
- participants then had to pick the suspect from a lineup but the suspect/criminal wasn’t present in the lineup - there were three groups; one was told they chose the correct person and the other was told they chose the incorrect person whilst the control group received no feedback at all
- it was found that those who were give reassurance from the police were more confident about testifying in court - these findings are quite concerning as it highlights that police reactions to correct identification can influence eye witness testimony when in court
what are identikits?
is a technique used to produce the image of someone that the witness is describing - originally done through drawing, moved onto face building via photograph banks of facial features in the 70’s, now done on a computer based system
what is the standard interview?
a non standardise technique; police receive little training so according to Brewer they ask what they want, frequently interrupt, ask closed questions and follow inappropriate sequences of questioning
what did Fisher and Pedzek argue is the issue with the standard interviewing method?
- numerous interruptions from the police
- over reliance on short answer questions; this means that more vague less detailed information is collected from the witnesses
- by pushing the witnesses to answer questions is likely going to elicit false information
what is the cognitive interview?
an interview technique that has been developed using knowledge of cognitive processes - it includes four techniques;
- context reinstatement
- in depth reporting
- narrative re ordering
- reporting from different perspectives
what is context reinstatement?
this is based on the idea that recall improves when we recall information in a similar context to which we learnt the material - this means that police may encourage witnesses to reinstate the context in their mind by recalling environmental factors such as the placement of furniture, the smell how they felt etc
what is in depth reporting?
the second stage requires the witnesses recalling every bit of information they can remember (even if it seems irrelevant) - the police are there to provide support rather than ask questions
what is narrative re ordering?
in the third stage, witnesses are asked to recall their story from a different perspective or a different angle (telling the story backwards - reporting the story backwards means that later elements provide cues for earlier ones)
what is reporting from different perspectives?
in the final stage, the witness is asked to recall information from the perspective of another witness - this may generate cues that produce new memories of the crime that they witnessed
how did Fisher represent the effectiveness of cognitive interviews?
- 7/16 Florida detectives were trained in the CI, they recorded 5-7 interviews over a 4 month period and then were each given additional training
- 47% more information was recorded in the post training interviews
- 63% more information was recorded from trained detectives
what are the general strengths of the cognitive interview?
- higher levels of external validity; the information provided from the witnesses is likely going to be more accurate
- the fact that it is more accurate will reduce the number of errors
what are the weaknesses of the cognitive interview?
- time consuming to conduct, takes much longer than the standard police interview
- a rapport must be established
- requires specialist training which the standard interview does
