Psychology 2990A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Eyewitness Testimony, Eyewitness Identification, Knit Cap

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2990A/B
• Professor: Doug Hazlewood

Document Summary

The canadian justice system: consists of two laws, civil law. One party (plaintiff) brings complaint against another (defendant) for violating rights: criminal law. When one commits a crime and police a(cid:396)(cid:396)est a suspe(cid:272)t, c(cid:396)o(cid:449)(cid:374) atto(cid:396)(cid:374)e(cid:455)"s offi(cid:272)e decides whether enough evidence to press formal charges. Preliminary hearing judge decides whether there will be trial. Quarter of cases go to trial where judge or jury decides. Eyewitness testimony: most common cause of a(cid:374) i(cid:374)(cid:374)o(cid:272)e(cid:374)t pe(cid:396)so(cid:374)"s (cid:271)ei(cid:374)g (cid:272)o(cid:374)(cid:448)i(cid:272)ted of (cid:272)(cid:396)i(cid:373)e is e(cid:396)(cid:396)o(cid:374)eous eyewitness. Jurors rely heavily on eyewitness testimony when deciding whether someone is guilty. Jurors overestimate accuracy of eyewitnesses: rod lindsay and colleagues study (1981) staged theft of calculator in front of alberta. If witness selects suspect from lineup, jurors, police investigators, and judges likely to assume that witness is right: research southern ontario: lineups have higher success rate than alternative of showing eyewitnesses only one person.