Key Question: Are Eye-witness Testimonies Reliable? Flashcards
What is the cognitive psychology key question?
How can social psychology be used to assess the reliability of eye-witness testimonies?
Define eye-witness testimony.
When individuals have to give evidence to the police or the court about a crime they have seen.
They are asked various questions about the events and the offender.
How is the cognitive key question relevant to society?
The innocence Project 2015 identified 72% of wrongful convictions were due to eye-witness identifications.
100 people per year wrongfully convicted due to eye witness testimonies.
How might wrongful conviction affect an individual?
An innocent person is sent to prison and may find it difficult to reintegrate with society due to mental health issues.
It can damage relationships and and they may struggle to find a job.
Give an example of a person who was wrongfully convicted.
Ronald cotton spent 10 years in jail for crimes he did not commit after an incorrect eyewitness testimony.
Explain your key question using the multi-store memory model.
EWT not reliable: Attention
MSM states that if you do not pay attention sensory memory store will not encode information.
=Eye witness testimonies won’t be accurate.
Explain your key question using the Long term memory explanation.
EWT are reliable: Episodic memory
If the episodic memory is spatial and time referenced then bringing and eyewitness objects from the crime scene may trigger their memory.
=Eye witnesses are reliable.
Explain your key question using Reconstructive memory theory.
EWT not reliable: Schemas
If there are gaps in an eye witnesses memory schemas will automatically fill these with expectation of what the individual expected to occur.
=EWT are not reliable as memories can be distorted and incorrect.
Explain your key question using the Working memory model.
EWT are reliable: Rehearsal
The working memory model by baddely and hitch explains how information is more likely to move from the STM to the LTM there is maintenance rehearsal.
=If the eye witness their memory of an event then their account is more likely to be accurate.
