...Forensic Psychology: Information Recall / Eyewitness Testimony ABS200 Instructor Clark August 18, 2014 Ashford University Applied behavioral science can be defined as a science that bases its concepts on the observations and learnings of human behavior. Science itself is all observation and learning, we try and try experiments in order to come to one or several conclusions and we observe in order to discover new things. In order to understand behaviors and what causes people do to the things they do we must observe not only the person but their surroundings and daily habits in order to understand them. In behavioral science there are many different sub-sections that can vary from clinical to criminal. Within these different sections we learn by making observations not just of one person but of every person we come across in our work and therefore have to learn how to make treatments based on these observations. In criminal cases, most of the time we are analyzing not only why a person has committed the crime they have committed but what drove them to become the person that they are. In many cases there is a mental illness whether treated or untreated that can cause the person to become unbalanced and therefore dangerous. Other times it is caused by childhood events which cause mental trauma which causes the person to act out in a certain manner. Cognitive psychology goes hand in hand with handling eye-witness testimony. With this type of psychology we use different styles...
Words: 2731 - Pages: 11
...the misconduct of Gerard Williams' sole eyewitness testimony which overlooked evidence that initially identified the true perpetrator (Innocence Project). Using the works of Loftus’s (2015) and Rattner’s (1983), I will examine how the primarily causes for cases of wrongful convictions consist of faulty eyewitness testimony and the exposure of the false memories. To begin, Loftus suggested that the identification of defendants from criminal cases were predominantly determined by witnesses (2015). In fact, studies have established that the possibility of misidentifying an individual tends to be increasingly high due to...
Words: 636 - Pages: 3
...Johnny J. Stewart Jr. Strayer University SCI 110 Professor Nina Walker July 21, 2014 ABSTRACT There are many different reasons why the reliability of eyewitness testimony in the United States judicial system today is all but flawed. There is only one way a witness can identify a suspect who has committed a crime, and it is called face to face recognition. Just getting a glimpse, bad weather, and bad lighting can hinder what a person can truly see. There have been several accounts of individuals that have been convicted, imprisoned, and put to death off of flawed testimonies by an eyewitness. In this I will attempt to show you my discussions of several statistics, convictions, exonerations, and key cases that will test the views of anyone when eyewitness testimonies are concerned. Within the past 30 years crimes were committed, and the people who witness these crimes made the cases have different outcomes. It used to be when a crime was committed, and someone came forward saying, “They have witnessed a crime”. History shows us when it comes to a traumatic experience dealing with crimes; the victims are different and as such react in many different ways. Most individuals panic, some are very calm, while others have no reaction whatsoever. The question has been raised about how reliable an eyewitness testimony truly is. Those who follow crime and courts trials know the stories are familiar and unnerving. Here is one case Cornelius Dupree spent 30 years Texas prison due to...
Words: 1278 - Pages: 6
...Snitches get Stitches Name Green River College Eng127: Writing in the Social Sciences Ariadne Rooney October 29, 2015 Snitches get Stitches Direct evidence is type of evidence that gives the jury a direct connection between the suspect and the crime scene, such as an eye witness. Eye witnesses do help convict guilty suspects but there are many instances where testimonies are altered to have a bias in order to receive an incentive or for some reason the testimony is recanted. This kind of incentivized lie is often referred to as a jailhouse informant, or a snitch. The jailhouse informant is used mostly in drug and murder cases and has been one of the largest contributions to a wrongful conviction and most judicial systems do not place proper policy to prevent this manipulation. This essay will highlight the history of the use and abuse of jailhouse informants, laws that prevent the misuse of snitches, and the many sides around the controversial issue. Historical Background As long as eye-witness testimonies have been regarded as a reliable source, they have been potentially unreliable. Rob Warden for The Northwestern University School of Law Center of Wrongful Convictions (2004) states that the history of the snitch dates back to our most rudimentary sense of law, predating the Pilgrims arriving to the New World. Although, the first documented case in the United States isn’t until 1819. This case involved two brothers, Jesse and Stephen Boorn, who were suspects...
Words: 1942 - Pages: 8
...Outline and Evaluate Research Into the Affect of Anxiety On the Accuracy of Eye Witness Testimony (6+6) Eyewitness Testimony refers to witnesses who are asked to give testimonies in court or police interviews to particular crimes. Eyewitness Testimony consists of : the eyewitness encoding the information they have witnessed the very second it happened, making sure they are describing the order of the events and the people involved. It also consists of the witness retaining information for a period of time (this can be a very long time) and finally it consists of the witness retrieving the information whilst they are in court. Eyewitness Testimony does have real life applicability as many people through DNA and false witnesses are sent to prison for crimes they did not commit therefore it is important to fully understand EWT to avoid innocent people being wrongfully punished. Eye witness testimonies are affected by a number of factors, but the one that I am going to focus on is anxiety. Many different laboratory studies and some ‘real life’ studies have generally shown recall is less accurate in people who have witnessed particularly distressing or anxiety filled situations. The weapon focus effect was created by Loftus (1979), she asked participants to sit outside a laboratory where they thought they were waiting to participate in an experiment, but they were actually already in it. As they were 'waiting', they heard a discussion between two people inside the laboratory...
Words: 1021 - Pages: 5
...“On the Witness Stand” Hugo Munsterberg in 1908 published “On the Witness Stand”, a collection of articles he had previously written explaining the need for experimental psychology in the court room. In reviewing several court cases, he was intrigued with the verdict based on the eyewitness testimony. Could these eyewitness testimonies be considered unreliable? Decisions based on the judge and jury through the questioning of the lawyers, disregarded the mental state of the witness. In his book, Hugo Munsterberg, explains the mind of the eyewitness through illusions, memories, emotions and suggestibility. Illusion is a perception. Munsterberg in his book describes several cases that make you wonder if each eyewitness was at the same scene. For example, when describing the road conditions, one witness claimed the road was dry while another said it was muddy. In another scenario, it was important to know the number of people present at a riot was larger than forty. One eyewitness mentioned there was no more than twenty while another said it was more than a hundred. So, is your mind playing tricks on you? In order to prove that everyone’s visual perception varies, Hugo Munsterberg developed several experiments. One of his experiments among 100 young men was to show a poster with 50 black squares for approximately five seconds. When asked how many squares the answers varied from twenty-five to two hundred squares. He continued to perform experiments based on perception...
Words: 871 - Pages: 4
...(Dictionary.com, 2007). Miscarriage of justice is also known as wrongful conviction. If someone is wrongfully convicted, that person is punished for an offence he or she did not commit and the actual perpetrator of the crime goes free. As well, public confidence in the system declines when wrongful convictions are identified. There are several elements that cause a miscarriage of justice, such as non-disclosure of evidence by police or prosecution, confirmation bias on the part of investigators, fabrication of evidence, poor identification, and unreliable confessions due to police pressure or psychological instability. They are all considered unjust as they violate the principle of justice. The three major causes for wrongful conviction are false confession, eyewitness error, and official misconduct. When a defendant has confessed to committing a crime, the vast majority of police, prosecutors, and jurors see it as rock-solid evidence of guilt. Many of these involved children or suspects with mental illnesses or mental retardation. Even more cases involve adults with no history of mental illness or retardation who...
Words: 2562 - Pages: 11
...However, I have no example where observational learning was used to my disadvantage but rather I have on occasions observed others mistakes and learnt how not to do something; that is: learning form others mistakes. As an eyewitness to a crime, how could you use information in this chapter to improve your memory for specific details? If you were a juror, what would you say to the other jurors about the reliability of eyewitness testimony? Being an eye witness to a crime I can help improve my memory by Maintenance rehearsal of the information stored in my Short Term Memory I can extend the duration of your Short Term Memory (STM). Because the capacity and duration of Short Term Memory are limited (Best, 1999; Kareev, 2000); to extend the capacity of STM, I can also use a technique called chunking (Boucher & Dienes, 2003; Miller, 1956). By grouping what I witnessed into small bits such as the number on a vehicle number plate that can help with retention and retrieval of the information. As a juror I may say to other jurors that eye witness testimony...
Words: 784 - Pages: 4
...Leroy states that the shoes are in his possession. She is determined to get them back. Rhoda takes matches while Christine remains ignorant that Rhoda has placed the matches back not realizing Rhoda is planning to burn Leroy alive. After Leroy is found dead in front of Christine’s window, Christine cannot believe her eyes that she has let Rhoda gone too far. Christine is in the cave not realizing that her daughter could kill again. Plato argues that, “And suppose once more, he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until he is forced into the presence of the sun himself, is he not likely to be painted and irritated? When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities.” (869). Christine, representing “he” in the quote, Christine sees clearly who her daughter is, with no questions. Here, she shows Rhoda that she does not want to be dragged into her schemes any...
Words: 1477 - Pages: 6
...Essay Set 2 Prompt PHIL 240 B01 Professor: Harold Walker Deborah McFadden Date 03/07/2014 Describe the minimal approach to the resurrection question. Be sure in your answer to provide a general description and outline of this approach when applied to the resurrection of Christ. Do you agree or disagree with this approach According to out text the minimal approach considers only those data that are so strongly attested historically that they are granted by nearly every scholar who studies the subject, even the rather skeptical ones. This augment does not argue anything but the resurrection. It does not argue for the inerrancy of the word or the reliability of the Word or the one who wrote it. The author states, Minimal facts approach considers only two data that meet two criteria 1. The data are strongly evidenced. 2. The data are granted by virtually all scholars on the subject, even the skeptical ones The minimal fact approach to the resurrection question is. Jesus died by crucifixion It was reported in all four gospels that Jesus was executed by crucifixion. Even some none-Christian sources report the event as well such as historians as Josephus, Taticutus, Lucian, Talmud all agreed to Jesus death by crucifixion is a historical fact support by considerable evidence. Tacitus referred to it as “the extreme penalty”. Josephus writes when Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men...
Words: 1857 - Pages: 8
...family, and career or who suffers a life sentence of prison rape and execution by AIDS deserves our concern as much as the innocent on death row”. (qtd. In Roberts, “Constitution Society”). Therefore, if anyone agrees with the death penalty are only taking away the lives of the innocents. Overall, I believe that every case should be reviewed closely and should not jump to conclusions. The Innocence project fully supports the ones that have been wrongly convicted and many more throughout the U.S. The investigation of wrongful convictions, which challenge the fairness and truthiness’ of the criminal justice system, are becoming a necessary feature of criminal justice analysis. Together we shall teach people how to improve their eyewitness testimony, not interrogate innocents, and not allow the death penalty. With these issues resolved the amount of the wrongly convicted will...
Words: 671 - Pages: 3
...Reliability of Eyewitness Testimony Eyewitness testimonies have played a major role in many wrongful court convictions. There is a great difficulty faced by many eyewitnesses when identifying perpetrators of crimes. Additionally, existing procedural safeguards are insufficient to put off erroneous convictions caused by eyewitness errors. It is therefore important to have a scientific method that can enhance reliability on eyewitness testimony when making a judgement in a court of law. Based on thirty years of broad scientific study on eyewitness testimony, this article delineates a tripartite solution to eyewitness error. This is necessitated by the fact that criminal justice system mainly relies on eyewitness evidence to convict suspects. Often, eyewitness evidence happens to be the only evidence available and if appropriately handled it can be very reliable. The proposed solution maintains accessibility of eyewitness substantiation, while at the same time providing safeguards to uphold its accuracy and reliability. Court of laws and criminal justice system can rely on eyewitness Testimony. This is the hypothesis that will be tested through research on the internet, books and other relevant sources. The expected outcome of this research paper, it will be easy to tell whether or not jurors can rely on eyewitness testimony. In this tripartite solution, the first component is allowing experts testimonies when the sole or primary evidence against the...
Words: 1136 - Pages: 5
...Name: Date: TRUE/FALSE Directions: Answer each of the following by indicating if the statement is TRUE or FALSE 1. The word forensics refers to the application of scientific knowledge to legal questions. TRUE 2. A fact is a statement or assertion of information that can be verified. TRUE 3. What we perceive about a person depends in part on their mannerisms and gestures. TRUE 4. Good observation skills come naturally to investigators. They do not need to be trained. FALSE 5. The first task of forensic scientists is to find, examine, and evaluate evidence from a crime scene. TRUE 6. The Innocence Project is an organization that seeks to get convicted killers out of prison. SKIP 7. Our emotional state influences our ability to see and hear what is happening around us. TRUE 8. If we remember seeing something happen, we can trust that is happened just as we think it did. FALSE 9. Through our senses of sight, taste, hearing, smell, and touch, we gather every single moment about what is around us. TRUE 10. Most wrongful convictions seem to be the result of faulty eye-witness testimony. TRUE MULTIPLE CHOICE Directions: Answer the following questions with the choice that best answers the question 1. One of the important tools of the forensic investigator is the ability to: (a) a. Observe, interpret and report observation clearly b. Observer assumptions clearly. c. Report assumptions...
Words: 1075 - Pages: 5
...As an eye witness of a crime and studying this unit, there is one trick for giving your memory a boost, Is to use mnemonic devices to encode items a special way. Three popular techniques is the Method of loci, peg words, and acronyms. There are other reasons for memory distortions, for instance epinephrine and cortisol are natural hormones in the body that affect the amygdale. The powerful effect of these hormones produce what is known as “flashbulb memories”, flashbulb memories are memories that are produced with surprising or emotional events in life. Another reason that could affect memory is the sleeper effect. The sleeper effect is like when students cram for a final the day before. Trying to memorize a lot of information at the same time really doesn’t help your memory it actually impedes it. You wouldn’t learn or remember as much unless you did a distributed practice which is spacing out you learning, you tend to retain more information a little bit at a time instead of trying to remember all at once. [4] If, I was a juror and I knew about this information then I would definite bring it to light, the fact that we create our own memories to make life more efficient. There are numerous ways that people forgot information without even realizing it. Elizabeth Loftus did studies on manufacturing memories to bring this topic to light because a lot of people were serving time in prison because of these types of memories. She did a study about people visiting Disney World and...
Words: 479 - Pages: 2
...individual words do not have to be memorized, but rather understood quickly in order to grasp the meaning of a sentence or paragraph. In this case, shallow processing would be a useful tool. False Memory 1. What kind of implications do experiments on false memory have for evaluating the validity of eyewitness accounts? Due to the theory of false memory, eyewitness testimonies are no longer believed to be reliable resources because there are many variables that may cause people to create memories that did not actually occur. Due to the experiments on false memory, memories cannot be trusted in situations where accuracy and detail are extremely important. For example, when people are presented with a list of words or sounds, they are more likely to recognize words that were not even on the list simply because they are similar in nature. There is no way to assess the legitimacy or accuracy of a memory without impartial evidence such as a tape recorder or video evidence, because human memories can be altered and rearranged due to biases or situational circumstances. False Memories – Peer-Reviewed Article The article that I choose to examine is titled “Sleep Deprivation May Increase Susceptibility to False Memories”. This commentary directly references a study on sleep deprivation influencing false memories conducted by Steven J. Frenda, Lawrence Patihis and Elizabeth Loftus of the University of California, Irvine and Holly Lewis and Kimberly Fenn of Michigan State University. The direct...
Words: 773 - Pages: 4
