week 8: memory and the law

Question 1

_____% of convictions get overturned later due to DNA evidence

Answer 1

70

Question 2

wording effects (eyewitness)

Answer 2

• how questions are worded can have an effect on what is remembered
• ppl reconstruct their memories of an event based on questions theyre asked (serve as memory cues)
• influences reconstruction

Question 3

misleading post event info

Answer 3

• misleading info presented after
• incorrect info gets incorporated into our memories
• ## can be from questions (as in prior section) from narratives, other ppl’s memories, or written accounts

Question 4

when can misleading info be more likely to be incorporated

Answer 4

• when it serves an explanatory function
• when it is self-generated (lying witness)

Question 5

three theories to explain misleading post event info (general)

Answer 5

• memory replacement theory
• blocking theory
• source monitoring theory

Question 6

memory replacement theory

Answer 6

• misleading info replaces/overwrites memory which is then perm altered or lost
• second guesses are no different from chance

Question 7

blocking theory

Answer 7

• two memories co-exist but the misleading info takes precedence and blocks the accurate memory
• reinstating context from original memory reduces effects unless its weak reinstatement (increases effects vie consolidation)
• og memories can show up in indirect tests or if warned
• bc misleading info is newer, it is stronger

Question 8

source monitoring theory

Answer 8

• both memories coexist but we cannot effectively remember where each piece of info was encountered
• we titrate our beliefs based on the: trustworthiness, inebriation, and role in the event of the source

Question 9

witness collaboration and social influences

Answer 9

• eyewitnesses contaminate one another’s memories
• can be collaboration inhibition (recall less when in groups)
• if recalled separate first then together errors are avoided
• collaboration if used properly can help lessen misleading suseptibility

Question 10

yerkes dodson law

Answer 10

• arousal is a continuum, with memory being an inverted u-shaped function
• at low arousal, ppl do not encode info then it goes up with arousal but there is a point where it peak and after that it is over aroused and thus not effective at encoding

Question 11

according to the yerkes dodson law, who would be more likely to remember more: bystanders or victims

Answer 11

bystanders, victims may be too over aroused

Question 12

at high levels of emotion, ___ details are worse but ___ are better

Answer 12

periferal, central

Question 13

easterbrook hypothesis

Answer 13

• at higher levels of emotional intensity, ppl restrict attention to a narrower range of details
• attention is more focused
• central is better, peripheral degrades

Question 14

cue utilization

Answer 14

Attention restricted to a narrower range of details,
and more focused

Question 15

weapon focus effect

Answer 15

increased memory for the weapon and decreased memory for other details

Question 16

eyewitness confidence influences

Answer 16

• post-identification feedback (positive feedback can increase confidence and lead to embellishment of quality of one’s view)
• repetition (confidence increases w more retellings but so does incorporation of more misinfo)
• motivation (telling ppl you’ll reward accuracy reduces link between confidence and accuracy)

Question 17

cognitive interview

Answer 17

• uses basic memory principals to maximize amount of correct and minimize amount of incorrect info
• focuses on 5 retrieval practices
• witness in control of recall of memories
• can boost accurate info by 50%

Question 18

what 5 retreival practices does the cognitive interview use

Answer 18

• reinstate internal and external context (encode specificity and mood dependent learning)
• report everything possible (even small details)
• report events in multiple orders (many retrieval pathways)
• report from multiple perspectives
• interviewers do not interrupt (flow and part set cuing)

Question 19

eyewitness identification

Answer 19

• can be influenced by: presence of weapon (weapon focus), lighting, distance, stress (emo arousal)

Question 20

mugshots and inaccurate identification

Answer 20

• when ppl are presented w mugshots and perp is none of them, they may feel inclined to just choose one
• this selection interferes w later perp identification
• can pick out mugshot that was previously shown (familiar)

Question 21

unconscious transference

Answer 21

• mistakenly identifying an innocent bystander as the perp
• memory blending and source monitoring theory

Question 22

line ups and eyewitness

Answer 22

• composition of line ups is important
• lineup similarity (physical resemblance of line up ppl) is important

Question 23

relative judgement principal

Answer 23

• witnesses may select someone from a lineup not bc this is who they saw but bc compared to others, they most closely resemble the perp

Question 24

rate of false identification drops by ____% when an added instruction saying the perp may not be in the line up is given

Answer 24

42

Question 25

simultaneous vs sequential lineups

Answer 25

simultaneous: all alternatives are shown together and witness must choose one (may be better) sequential: one person at a time (may have less errors) but ppl may be stricter at beginning and looser at the end

Question 26

juries memory

Answer 26

- influenced by order, more heavily by recency - if given background info recency if not primacy - disregard contradictory statements

Question 27

inadmissible evidence

Answer 27

- worse memory for this than admissible evidence - still measurable indirect influences (person ratings) - can remember info but not where from (sleeper effect)

Question 28

counterfactual thinking

Answer 28

- when ppl think about events they think abt how they may be different