Eyewitness Testimony Essay

Eye lift Testimony EssayThe c alone of take in affirmation is infamously a primary offset of recite exercising within the discriminatory system around the world nonwithstanding its custom has raised variant questions as to its reli mightiness and validity specially within court cases. This show explored first of all, the biological factors of holding and remembrance of memories within the human brain. Memories argon believed to be introduced and acted within the hippocampus part of the brain where it goes by dint of the multi-store deterrent example (Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968). This is where danger of the dependability of retrospect occurs. It was argued that eye interpret sieveimony is a reliable form of rise especially with its validity in cost of the consequences spark advance up to the use of EWT what is deemed important schooling is believed to be remembered more than clearly. Sigmund Freud (1920) suggested that memories arse solely be retrieve d by encouraging remembering byg champion episodes and re-instating these past memories into their consciousness. Psychologists Nibett and Ross (1980) quoted that the cerebrate why witness recommendation is persuasive is that it find outs the control panel on a deeper level. However, witness testimonial constitute more disadvant get on withs than advantages with the various factors that affect it such as instruments contract in sequents involving weapons which cause confusions and detriment of memories. The primary psychologist that tested the use of retention was Elizabeth Loftus who conducted various sample to test this, such as the Automobile Destruction audition in the 1970s. aft(prenominal) having collated all the arguments together, it was suggested that breakments must be made in order to correct the quality of eyewitness affidavit these included the good system and law forces involvement in collating t from apiece oneing as quickly as possible.The just about imperative form of distinguish when investigating a criminal offense is the stinkpotdor of witnesses on trial, the application of eyewitness tri scarcelye. Though the use of eyewitness testimony by juries is examineed most valuable, the question of fallibility of witness statements poses various problems and issues. Eyewitness testimony has been a thriving aspect of the Criminal Justice System, an incredible step of research into this gene of cognitive psychology questions the reliableness of multitudes keeping especially using it as evidence to de statusine the topic of the trial and convictions. explore into the reliability of evidence, oft referred to as witness psychology is renowned as cosmos the longest established argona of law and psychology, dating underpin to the beginning of the 20th century.1The argona of eyewitness testimony has always posed a problem with reliability and the effectiveness of human reposition. Human remembering is described by cognitive psychologists Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)2as a three pose theory in which memory is modelled in, this memory fix up model is called the Multi-Store Model. The Multi-store model theory consists of the memory being separate into three stages, the first stage being the sensory store, the second stage is the short marge memory (working memory) and the three being long term memory. The transfer of training from one store to an around other(a) is controlled by the dish up of attention and rehearsal of memories. maven of the most critical assumptions made by cognitive psychologists is that the human look has a limited capacity for bear upon development. Therefore, every external breeding that the environment consists of is oftentimes very difficult for the human morality to soak up and process so people atomic number 18 selective about what cultivation is to be retrieved and this is otherwise known as attention, where some knowledge is assimilated whil e other particles argon ignored.The first stage of the multi-store model, the sensory store, is where the knowledge from the senses (iconic, echoic, tactile, olfactive and gustatory), is transferred into further this is only for a very short period of fourth dimension. The sign schooling retrieved by the senses is and so transferred into the short term memory store this is transferred through attention given to the development transferred from the senses involved. When the schooling has been transferred into the short-term memory store, this is the store concerned with forgetting study and this development is ultimately lost only when. Therefore, for information to be remained in the memory, from the short term store into the long term store, the information must be rehearsed. Rehearsal is the cycling of information through the memory, this rehearsal of memory seat be carried out in both different methods.Therefore this essay lead investigate whether the application of eyewitness testimony statements is a reliable form of evidence to be employ by the judicial system. Furthermore, this essay will argue whether eyewitness testimony is ideal to use as one of the most important pieces of evidence to use or whether the application of eyewitness testimony is fallible. later on analyse for and against the reliability of eyewitness accounts, an evaluation will be drawn all over how eyewitness testimony can be improved to an extent where it can be further accurate. This essay will explore the elements of eyewitness testimony and how these factors can determine whether an eyewitness account is accurate. These elements include the effect of weapon focus on witness memory, how leading questions can manipulate witness statements and recollection of memory, reconstructive errors of memory and the application of psychological experiments when exploring the function of these elements on the human memory. The application of the eyewitness testimony includes multiple formal questioning sessions with witnesses on trial, taking statements of the burdens witnessed and witnesses appearing in court with the jury. The issue of right when applying eyewitness testimony accounts is delegated to the jury, who ar assigned the role of determining the feeling of whether the eyewitness statements are fallible or reliable3. The use of eyewitness testimony has a profound and compelling effect on the outcome of a trial and conviction, and this is why an accurate eyewitness testimony is necessary in order to gain justness.The Aspects of Eyewitness TestimonyAs a consequence of the limitations of information processing in the human pass, witness statements penury to be reviewed for truth and if every external factors of all the environment or the function of memory whitethorn hand over affected the outcome of the witness account4. sort of often, when the memory can non consider the entire mishap or situation, it whitethorn result in the unk nown areas being replaced by events that whitethorn never contract took place in reality but the mind whitethorn perceive as a potential occurrence and consequently causes fallibility in the eyewitness testimony. In essence, the memory may fill in gaps where it fails to recall what may pick up happened5. Many factors affect eyewitness memories which are illustrated belowInterference of Memory Processing The period of clock that has nonchurchgoing between the witnessing of the consequent and the questioning of the eyewitness can determine the occur of information that the witness can recall. On the other hand, interference which is the redness of old stimuli as a result of new information can also subsequently reduce the accuracy of eyewitness accounts.6Leading Questions in Witness Interviews A leading question in its form or content, suggests to the witness being interviewed what answer is desired or leads them to the desired answer. round questions can often be made more s uggestive than others and these questions the legal concept of a leading question. The main pioneer for investigating the consequences of finicky leading questions was Elizabeth F. Loftus in 1974.7Schemas The human mind has evolved its memory capacity and the ability to remember certain aspects by organising information into categories, otherwise known as schemas8. Schemas help organise memories that can consist of familiar people, objects and situations and allow people to understand and act appropriately to whatever is encountered.Arousal, Anxiety and Violence doubt quite an often, cognitive psychologists accept questioned the poor recall of eyewitness accounts is primarily a result of where their attention is focused upon. A possible modestness for arousal, disturbance and violence distraction could be that a violent incident, with the use of weapons, draws the focus of the witnesss attention away from who is causing this anxiety, which results in little or no processing of other information.9Weapon Focus When a witness views a crime in which a weapon is used as a method of violence and distraction, the weapon achieves its purpose in distracting the attention of those witnessing the crime. The distraction affects the witnesss attention due to the potential flagellum of violence9.External Influences Quite often, external influences can affect the accuracy of eyewitness accounts, especially if the media has been influencing the events that deport taken place. The witness may re-interpret their witness statements to match what the media has claimed may have existed or happened. Apart from the media, other external influences may include other witness accounts of what happened and/or the type of environment that the situation may have occurred in, e.g. in darkness, low-lit room etc.Conformity Through the questioning process that witnesses must endure, group questioning in particular, gives into reason the reliability of witness recollections as they may conform in order to check over for each one others interpretation of what happened.Reliability of Eyewitness TestimonyThe use of eyewitness testimony has provided crucial evidence that can often lead to the identification and stop over of a crook suspect or a hazardous event can be rid ofed. Eyewitness testimony impacts strongly upon the trial process and the verdicts that are given by the jury are kinda often influenced heavily by eyewitness accounts. Stern and Dunning, 199410quoted that eyewitness testimony is mayhap the most compelling types of evidence presented to police investigations and criminal trials.Although the human memory and its information processing ability, has substantial amount of moneys of limitations that can lead to invalidity and inaccuracy, it does however, base a unique ability to process information where the acquired stimulus information is stored. The human mind can potentially hold millions of pieces of information, though not all at once, whic h when acquired by the brain can be reinstated and remembered. The memories that the mind deems as important for growth and use consistently is life are episonic which represents the episode of the memory where as certain skill or piece of information semantic which identifies what that piece of information consists of and what it is and finally procedural which processes who that information is to be used or handled. For example, teaching a child how to canvass a book at a particular age is episonic, discriminating what a book is, is semantic and how to read the wrangle in a book would be procedural.11The process of information being transferred from the short term memory into the long term memory was an experiment conducted by psychologists Welch and Burnett in 1924. The experiment was to test the theory of the serial position curve where it consisted of the subjects being presented with a list of 16 words in which they had to recall in order. The results of this experiment, ill ustrated the serial position curve in which the recollection of words and the results of the experiment were graphed and this illustrated a curve effect were the last recalled words were remembered best(p) whereas the words in the middle of the recall were remembered poorly.Cognitive psychologist, Sigmund Freud believed that memories were allocated in the brain12. Freud referred to these memories as true memories and described that they lay deep in the unconscious element of the brain, where they lay undisturbed as a factor of surface mental activity. Freud insisted that these memories were never lost or forgotten as they are only inaccessible and latent, having become a part of the unconscious13. For these memories to be accessed, Freud promoted the proficiency free association. By encouraging witnesses to reminisce about past episodes that have occurred within their lives, Freud insinuated that they could reinstate long-forgotten yet important memories from their past into their consciousness. However, it can be argued that the true memories that Freud insisted exist in the human sub-conscious are in fact potential complex blendings of both fact and fiction. Memory is an extremely weak aspect of the human mind that can potentially be supplemented, modify and reconstructed by external stimuli that can question an event that may never have occurred.However, it is argued that the human mind is capable of remembering probatory pieces of information that is considered live and important. This is considered one of the key factors in which juries do consider eyewitness testimony accounts as a merry piece of evidence. Psychologists Nibett and Ross, 1980 quoted that the reason why eyewitness testimony is persuasive is that vivid testimonies have a strong impact on observers so this conclusively means that they are easier to remember especially upon the jury14. Though the potential invalidity of eyewitness accounts is extensive, error made in witness accounts ar e extraneous when the observers are able to distinguish between accurate and inaccurate witnesses15. However, there may be a possibility that the eyewitness account is accurate but leading questions by the criminal investigation team may dismiss the memory to be changed to fit the question or the most pertinent and fitting answer16.The Unreliability of Eyewitness TestimonyThe malleability of eyewitness accounts borders the excessive inaccuracy of it being used as a vital evidential piece in the courts and criminal referee system. Many hypotheses have been established that suggest reasons for the valued use of eyewitness testimony. Saunders et al believe that jurors lean to place too a lot faith in eyewitness testimonies however the problem lies with whether eyewitness testimony is a reliable source of evidence to use17. The inaccuracy of witness accounts is demonstrated by the various aspects that intercept with each other and substantiate hesitation for its use as evidence.T he use of leading questions can quite often alter information/intelligence or can quite often misinterpreted accounts to match the information that the witness has been presented with. An experiment conducted by Elizabeth Loftus and John Parmer illustrates the interaction between language and memory in 197418. The reconstruction of an automobile destruction consisted of two experiments in which subjects were shown films of automobile accidents. After the observation, the subjects were then asked questions about the events that occurred in the films How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other? The use of the word smash demonstrated higher estimations in the speed of the car as opposed to other verbs used in place of smash such as collided, bumped, contacted and hit. When the experiment was repeated a week later, the subjects who received the word smashed were more in all likelihood to approve to the question asked Did you see any broken glass? even though there w as no recollection of broken glass within the video. These results highlight the theory that the questions asked in relation to an event can result in a reconstruction of a witnesss memory of that event.Though witness memory is quite often inaccurate in that they fail to distinguish the events that had occurred, quite often, the human memory can remember erroneous events and details that may be introduced by third fellowship interference. In the 1970s, Elizabeth Loftus conducted an experiment to demonstrate how third party interference can invalidate witness accounts by introducing glum facts. Subjects were shown a slideshow of a car at an intersection with any a wages sign or a stop sign. The experimenter then asked the participants questions which mistakenly used the word stop sign instead of yield sign which is what was actually shown in the slideshow. The results indicated that subjects remembered seeing the false image the gate of false cues altered the memory of the part icipants in the experiment.Bartlett conducted an experiment in which he read a news report The war of the ghosts out tinny to a group of participants where he concluded that participants attempted to fit the story into their western schemas and as a result, distorted it during recall19. This showed that they were not recalling the information exactly as it had been presented to them, but were making assumptions at the story, based on their own understanding. This correlates with what a witness may assume a criminal or crime scene may look like and thusly use this to describe the suspected. Schemas are an effective method of processing and convert information20. The idea of schemas were originally established by Frederick Bartlett in the 1930s which involved a large number studies in which he showed ways in which participants made sense of whatever they were shown affects the way they recall it later21. For example, in one of his studies, Bartlett showed participants unfamiliar li ne drawings and instructed them to hear it. Bartlett then asked his participants to talk aloud at the same time as memorising the picture. He found that different participants made sense of the figures in different ways. Later in the experiment, the participants were asked to draw the figures as they remembered them and Bartlett observe that the schemas which they established during their initial convert influenced their recall. Therefore, schemas may influence what witnesses may qualify what a criminal looks like or behaves like and this may influence their account of events.Through the questioning process that witnesses must endure, witnesses can either be questioned on a one-to-one basis where the interviewer questions the witness severally or witnesses can be questioned as a group if the incident has been witnesses by multiple people. In particular, group questioning which gives into reason the reliability of witness recollections as they may conform in order to fit each oth ers interpretation of what happened. This conformity can purposely invalidate information as the witness does not want to be isolated from the events that the other witnesss describe as having happened. This subjective information again affects the testimony because false information is being interpreted is invalid due to conformity of information.The weapons focus effect22perceives to be a result of the witnesss attention being preponderantly directed towards the weapon, resulting in diversion of attention away from the situational aspects and the criminal suspect. When a witness views a crime in which a weapon is used as a method of violence and distraction, the weapon achieves its purpose in distracting the attention of those witnessing the crime. The distraction affects the witnesss attention due to the potential threat of violence. Although an incident has occurred, the attention of the witness is primarily upon the weapon so they are not observing the rest of the incident or t he person who is posing the threat and this causes the witness to have lack of information about the incident. This area of eyewitness psychology is known as weapon focus unfortunately this distraction results in a very poor eyewitness testimony as the witness is unable to recall events and descriptions. Unfortunately, most crimes involve the use of a weapon as a vulnerability tool, which in essence causes the tensity and anxiety levels of the witness to rise and therefore will fail to convert and remember vital information.Eyewitness inaccuracy may also be a result of errors that occur within the memory process the memory is divided into three distinct stages of processing encoding, storage and retrieval. The occurrence of errors is very likely at any particular stage within the memory processing stages. Acquiring information or otherwise known as encoding is illustrated within the Yerkes-Dodson principle which according to its theorists, an increase in arousal improves procedur e up to a certain block. Once arousal has passed the critical point which is otherwise known as the optimum, performance tends to decline and these results in poorer memory performance. So, in essence when a person is moderately aroused, the information is encoded best as opposed to extreme arousal or stress where the information is lost or encoded insufficiently. The Yerkes-Dodson theory23demonstrates that if a witness observes a crime that is substantially violent and/or makes the witness experience high levels of revere and anxiety, they are less likely to remember any significant levels of information because of the extreme stress which results in encoding of information inaccurate. This conclusively makes their eyewitness account unreliable because they fail to remember any substantial amounts of information and detail of what happened and of the perpetrator.The question of witness account accuracy raises questions about whether the time aft(prenominal) the incident occurred , if the account is still valid as evidence because quite often, large amounts of time and substantial interference can overlook the information from memory. This deterioration refers to the handout of stimulus information as a result of passed time. The amount of time that has lapsed between the occurrence of the event and the questioning and testimony of the witness can quite often determines the amount of information the witness can recall24. This interference is due to the loss of old stimulus information caused by new stimulus information this can also reduce the accuracy of eyewitness accounts. People are more likely to overestimate the duration of brief events but on the other hand underestimate the duration of prolonged events (Penrod, Loftus and Winkler, 1982). Other psychological research has demonstrated that the presence of a weapon also reduces the accuracy of eyewitness accounts.Evaluation of Eyewitness TestimonyTaking into consideration the flaws in which eyewitness accounts may consist of, which effectively invalidates the testimony, these flaws can be avoided by both the eyewitness and the criminal justice system that use the accounts as a form of evidence.Most importantly, the way in which witness accounts are handled is vital in establishing a valid eyewitness testimony with as much truth as possible. The interviewing process which is conducted by the criminal justice system i.e. police, courtroom judges, need to be done in a careful and delicate way so that there is no disintegrate or deterioration of information. Though the memory of the witnesses may differ, depending on age and memory capacity, quite often the initial first few hours after the occurrence of an incident is vital in collecting as much valid information as possible. So, the interviewing of witnesses should be conducted right after the incident when possible to avoid any decay of information and/or third party interference.In terms of the actual interviewing process, the use of leading questions should entirely be avoided unless the witness has mentioned specific events or descriptions which would not invalidate information as it has been confirmed by the witness. Leading questions25can quite often add new information that the witness may not have known about and will therefore mention false information in order to fit their account with what is evidently known by the police. Specific questions that can be used in the interviewing process may help the witness to run through their track of events which in some circumstances reveal any recollection of events without any external influence.Quite often through the criminal investigation, the witness needs to be interviewed some times to establish the course of events and important descriptions, whether this is through the crown pursuance trial or by the police. If later eyewitnesses need to be interviewed, they should be able to recall as much information that they reported initially, avoiding any ext ra information that they may have picked up from third party interference. So in essence, there is no uncertain information but information that the mind has remembered and rehearsed within their memory and indicates a positive recollection of events.Though no control can be given to what eyewitnesses will focus on and concentrate entirely on, measures on how information is peaceful can partially help to distinguish between valid and false information within accounts.ConclusionIt can be concluded that the use of eyewitness testimony will also be used as a vital source of evidence by the criminal justice system for years to come. Eyewitness testimony can hold vital pieces of information that cannot be retrieved from any other source, without eyewitness testimony, the police would find it incredibly difficult to discover any potential clues and evidence of what happened or description of what the perpetrator physically looks like. Criminal cases in which there is not eyewitnesses to give evidence are usually those cases which find it incredibly spartan to convict the guilty so have to rely upon other physical evidence such as CCTV, DNA, fingerprints etc.However, the use of eyewitness accounts seems to constrain a lot of doubt in whether it is a reliable source of evidence to be used because its accuracy is questioned based on interpretation. The use of leading questions and third party interference can decay any initial recollection of events that the eyewitness may have believed to have happened. entirely the human memory has flaws within itself regardless of extra information that can falsify or invalidate the recollection of what occurred and why.The initial pioneer of evaluating eyewitness evidence, Elizabeth F. Loftus26highlights the flaws of eyewitness accounts and of the human memory. The conclusions in which Loftus has discovered were advantageously used to improve quality of interviews and valid eyewitness accounts but unfortunately cannot eliminat e all invalid information.So, in essence, the question as to whether eyewitness testimony is a reliable source of evidence still remains unclear on the basis that it is vital evidence which is needed to collate important information. However, its reliability is questioned in terms of validity and how much the witness is able to accurately recall all pieces of information especially having experienced high amounts of anxiety and stress. Eyewitness testimony will always remain a vital source of evidence but its use should be delicately considered to avoid any false information or invalid convictions.