The Reliability of Eyewitness Testimony

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The Reliability of Eyewitness Testimony

Part 1 - How reliable is Eyewitness testimony?

The Reconstructive nature of memory - Schemas and Stereotypes

The reconstructive nature of memory is related to the schema theory. A

schema is a package of memory that is organized and developed

throughout our lives. Schemas are stored in long term memory. Most

people have similar schemas and this was recognized by Bower, Black

and Turner (1979) when they asked several people to recall the schema

for the most important things they do when they go out to a restaurant

for a meal. They found out that most people put the same main aspects

in their schemas.

Bartlett's theory of Reconstructive Memory is crucial to an

understanding of the reliability of eye witness testimony (EWT) as he

suggested that recall is subject to personal interpretation dependent

on our learnt or cultural norms and values- the way we make sense of

our world.

In other words, we tend to see and in particular interpret and recall

what we see according to what we expect and assume is 'normal' in a

given situation. Bartlett tested this theory using different stories

to illustrate that memory is an active process and subject to

individual interpretation or construction.

Bartlett found out that when he asked the participants to recall the

story twenty hours after they first read it then the story changed

considerably. The participants recall distorted the content and the

style of the original story. The story was shortened and the phrases

were shortened to become more similar to our own language. Over

periods of time up to a year Bartlett asked his participants to kee...

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...l to general open ended questions,

concluding with more specific closing questions. The basic cognitive

interview was also formed after the consideration of the bullet points

above, which basically reports on the time of the crime, where it

happened, and anything else that they can think of surrounding the

incident and then the information is fragmented and 'picked at' to

find any vital clues or evidence.

Conclusion

There are implications from psychological research for improvements in

the collection and use of eye witness testimony. Police might develop

the basic cognitive interview by increasing contextual cues to enhance

recall, minimising distractions and reducing eyewitness anxiety.

Psychologists can be used as expert witnesses in criminal trials to

advise jurors on the reliability of eyewitness testimony.

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