False Memory & Eyewitness Testimony
False Memory and Eyewitness Testimony
PSY363
False Memory and Eyewitness Testimony
A false memory is simply a memory that did not occur. An actual experience can become distorted as best illustrated by the Cog Lab experiment on false memories accessed through Argosy University. The experiment is outlined as follows: a participant is given a list of words that are highly relative in nature at a rate of about one word every 2 seconds. At the finish of the given list, the participant is then shown a list of words in which he or she is to recall the words from the original list. A special distractor is inserted to the list, and this word, although highly relative in nature, was not in the original list. For example, the original list might be all beach related words such as sun, sand, waves, etc. The special distractor in this case could be seagull. Although not presented in the original list, there is a very high percentage of special distractor recall. My personal distractor recall in this experiment was a whopping 67%, and I knew ahead of time that I was going to be tricked and tested. A normal distractor is a word presented not related to the original material at all, and in my case I did not pick any normal distractors. I believe it is noteworthy to say that there was no time lapse in my test, and I missed 24% of the original words (Ashcraft & Radvansky, 2010). DNA exonerations have shown that eyewitness testimony is not very reliable. In fact, The Innocence Project states that of their first 275 DNA exonerations, over 75% of those wrongful convictions were due to faulty eyewitness testimony. A look at the case of John Jerome White will reveal just how faulty eyewitness testimony can result in the wrongful conviction and subsequent prison sentence of an innocent man. The victim in this case was a 74 year old woman whose home was broken into and she was sexually assaulted. Eight times at the trial she did not waver when she
PSY363
False Memory and Eyewitness Testimony
A false memory is simply a memory that did not occur. An actual experience can become distorted as best illustrated by the Cog Lab experiment on false memories accessed through Argosy University. The experiment is outlined as follows: a participant is given a list of words that are highly relative in nature at a rate of about one word every 2 seconds. At the finish of the given list, the participant is then shown a list of words in which he or she is to recall the words from the original list. A special distractor is inserted to the list, and this word, although highly relative in nature, was not in the original list. For example, the original list might be all beach related words such as sun, sand, waves, etc. The special distractor in this case could be seagull. Although not presented in the original list, there is a very high percentage of special distractor recall. My personal distractor recall in this experiment was a whopping 67%, and I knew ahead of time that I was going to be tricked and tested. A normal distractor is a word presented not related to the original material at all, and in my case I did not pick any normal distractors. I believe it is noteworthy to say that there was no time lapse in my test, and I missed 24% of the original words (Ashcraft & Radvansky, 2010). DNA exonerations have shown that eyewitness testimony is not very reliable. In fact, The Innocence Project states that of their first 275 DNA exonerations, over 75% of those wrongful convictions were due to faulty eyewitness testimony. A look at the case of John Jerome White will reveal just how faulty eyewitness testimony can result in the wrongful conviction and subsequent prison sentence of an innocent man. The victim in this case was a 74 year old woman whose home was broken into and she was sexually assaulted. Eight times at the trial she did not waver when she
References: Troy Anthony Davis executed in Georgia after appeals exhausted. (2011, September 22). The New York Post. U.S. Census Bureau. (2012, January 21). Retrieved March 30, 2012, from Sate & County Quick Facts: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/2270805.html Argosy, U. o. (2012). PSY363 Classroom Lectures. Retrieved March 22, 2012, from Argosy University: http://myeclassonline.com Ashcraft & Radvansky. (2010). Cognition 5th Edition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc. Green, M. P. (2009). Errors in Eyewitness Identification Procedures. Retrieved March 30, 2012, from Human Factors: http://www.visualexpert.com/Resources/mistakenid.html Loftus, E. (1979). Eyewitness Testimony. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Olivarez, B. (2010, April 24). Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve: The Theory of Memory. Retrieved March 30, 2012, from Helping Psychology: http://helpingpsychology.com/ebbinghaus-forgetting-curve Rankin, B. (2011). Mistaken Identity. The Atlanta Journal, B.1. Saunders, K. (n.d.). Institute of Cognitive Science. Retrieved March 30, 2012, from The Weapon Effect: The Role of Weapon Location: http://www.cacs.louisiana.edu/~maida/ICScolloqCurrent/fall03/saundersFall03.html Volokh, A. (1997). n Guilty Men. 146 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 173.