CRI1103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Eyewitness Identification, Cognitive Interview, Encoding Specificity Principle
CRI1105
Week 3
Getting it right: Eyewitness ID • System variables
Descriptive evidence and Police interview techniques • Identification evidence and
Identification parades
Scott Frazer talk • The role of expectation
System variables
Factors that influence the accuracy of eyewitness testimony and are under the control of
the criminal justice system • Occur after the incident and impact on the storage and
retrieval stages of memory
E.g. • The capacity of investigatory procedures used by the criminal justice system to gather accurate
descriptive and identification evidence • Police interview techniques • Identification parades
Scott
Descriptive evidence
Interviewing witnesses provides the opportunity to gather important information about
the incident • But, it is possible to contaminate witnesses’ memories
Potential sources • Media • Witnesses • Police
Police • Post-event information • Verbal overshadowing • Memory transference
Descriptive evidence
Post-event information • Film of a car accident • Participants were asked one of five versions of the
question: About how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other? • Other versions
used contacted, hit, bumped and collided
Film of a car accident • Participants were asked one of two versions of the question:
How fast was the white sports car going while travelling along the country road? • The
other version included additional information …when it passed the barn while travelling
along the country road?
Scott
Descriptive (identification) evidence
Verbal overshadowing • Witnesses asked to provide a verbal description before making an
identification • Reduction in the proportion of correct identifications
Retrieval-based interference: Verbal recoding of visual memory interferes with access to
the original memory
Transfer inapprorpiate retrieval: Verbal processes inhibit the nonverbal processes
necessary for identification
Criterion shift: Verbal descriptions cause the adoption of a stricter criterion, thereby
reducing the likelihood of a correct identification
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Getting it right: eyewitness id system variables. Descriptive evidence and police interview techniques identification evidence and. Scott frazer talk the role of expectation. Factors that influence the accuracy of eyewitness testimony and are under the control of the criminal justice system occur after the incident and impact on the storage and retrieval stages of memory. E. g: the capacity of investigatory procedures used by the criminal justice system to gather accurate descriptive and identification evidence police interview techniques identification parades. Interviewing witnesses provides the opportunity to gather important information about the incident but, it is possible to contaminate witnesses" memories. Potential sources media witnesses police. Police post-event information verbal overshadowing memory transference. Film of a car accident participants were asked one of two versions of the question: Verbal overshadowing witnesses asked to provide a verbal description before making an identification reduction in the proportion of correct identifications. Retrieval-based interference: verbal recoding of visual memory interferes with access to the original memory.
