PSYCH253 Chapter Notes -Group Polarization
18 Dec 2012
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Document Summary
A vivid eyewitness account is difficult to erase from juror"s minds. Compared to criminal cases lacking eyewitness testimony, those that have eyewitness testimony are more likely to produce convictions. Jurors are more skeptical of eyewitnesses whose memory for trivial details is poor, however these tend to be the most accurate witnesses. Those who pay attention to detail are less likely to pay attention to the culprit"s face. Eyewitnesses are often more confident than correct, and it"s the confident witness that jurors find most believable. We construct memories, based partly on what we perceived at the time and partly on our expectations, beliefs, and current knowledge. Strong emotions that accompany witnessed crimes and trauma may further corrupt eyewitness memories. Misinformation effect: witnessing an event, receiving misleading information about it, and then incorporating the misinformation into one"s memory of the event. Suggestive questions can distort eyewitness recollections (asking about a red car and then later remembering said car)
