If you were a juror, what would you say to the other jurors about the reliability of eyewitness testimony? One of the ways is to try and do maintenance rehearsal of the images you saw. If you can keep repeating the images of the crime over and over it should get stored longer. You can also try chunking information about the crime that you think would be important to the police. Also since seeing a crime it could be considered a major event and should get stored in the episodic memory of the long term memory.
Discuss the use of the cognitive interview in obtaining evidence from eyewitnesses. (12 marks) A cognitive interview is a police technique made for interviewing witnesses of crimes. The cognitive interview encourages them to recreate the scenario of what originally happened to increase the accessibility of stored information; this makes it more likely for the witness to remember more accurate details of the event. Cognitive interviews are important to improve the effectiveness of questioning witnesses and to be able to apply psychological findings to these real life situations. The cognitive interview had been developed by Fisher and Geiselman in 1992.
Before the lineup is done, whether physical or photo, you have to explain to the victim/witness that the purpose of the lineup isn’t only for identification but to also exonerate the innocent. (Technical Working Group for Eyewitness Evidence, 1999.) After the photo or physical lineup, is to interview the victims/witnesses and take down their account of what happened. This is called a statement. During the interview it is very important to build good rapport and listen very carefully.
The term eyewitness testimony (EWT) is actually a legal term, referring to the use of eyewitness (or earwitness) to give evidence in court concerning the identity of someone who has committed a crime. Psychologists tend to use the term ‘eyewitness memory’ instead of ‘testimony’ when carrying out research to test the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. Loftus and Palmer (1974) were interested in the accuracy of memory after witnessing a car accident, in particular to see if leading questions distorted the accuracy of an eyewitness’s immediate recall. Forty-five students were shown seven films of different traffic accidents. After each film the participants were given a questionnaire which asked them to describe the accident and then answer a series of specific questions about it.
For example, in Loftus experiments on eye witness testimony the participants were asked to say if there was broken glass present or not. This can be objectively and accurately measured and analysed The artificial and controlled environment used can be useful in ensuring other variables are not causing the effect. For example, in experiments into Jury prejudice, factors such as the nature of the crime, gender, race, and attractiveness can be kept the same or manipulated to see which is most likely to create a bias in favour or against a defendant, thus again establishing a cause and effect relationship. This environment allows standardised procedure and instructions to be applied, meaning that each participant is having the same experience, allowing accurate comparison of individual responses. For, example, when looking at the reliability of eye witness testimony, video or slides can be used to ensure each participant witnesses the same event exactly.
Interrogations and Confessions George R Williams Forensic Psychology CJ4641 Ms. Chau August 25, 2015 Abstract This paper presents to the reader an overview of the traumatic experience involved in a police interrogation. It also highlights the possibilities of an innocent person confessing to a crime. The thought of giving a false confessing to a crime is preposterous, but it does happen. The trip will begin with a description of the interrogation room. There will be an initial interview with the interrogators.
• Describe and evaluate the multi-store model of memory • Outline the working memory model. • Explain one limitation of the working memory model • Outline one strategy for memory improvement • Outline and evaluate research into the effects of age of witnesses on accuracy of eyewitness testimony. • Describe two strategies for improving memory. • Jamie wanted to contact his doctor. He looked up the number in his telephone directory.
I could access information and guidance by reading policy and procedures from my manager or colleagues, look on the internet also could attend more training. 2.2 Explain what actions to take when there are concerns over the recording, storing or sharing of information. If i had concerns i would report to my senior in charge or my manager for example if i went to look at some ones care plan and the cabinet lock was broke i would report it straight away also if someone’s care plan was missing or a piece of information was missing i would also report it straight
Running Head: Police Discretion Position Paper Police Discretion Position Paper John Doe CJA 333 June 11, 2011 Instructor’s Name Here An important aspect of policing is the use of discretion. Discretion is decision making when dealing with situations that has no clear rule of action. Criminal laws do not specify every circumstance. However, law enforcement train to use the right discretion for situations they may encounter. Problems could come up when officers are on the work scene, and encounter specific situations where they lack proper training.
The social influence on the suggestibility of witnesses Elin M. Skagerberg & Daniel B. Wright (2008): The prevalence of co-witnesses and co-witness discussions in real eyewitnesses, Psychology, Crime & Law, 14:6, 513-521 Background The majority of research exploring the effects of post event information (P.E.I) relates to the investigative process and the role of leading questions, as it has been found to result in the reconstruction of memory (Loftus & Palmer 1974). In recent years however more acknowledgment has been given to other types of P.E.I such as conversation between co-witnesses. There has been a significant increase in the acknowledgment and exploration of the social aspects involved in co-witness discussion as research has suggested that memory is a function of social as well as cognitive processes. (Bless 2001). Further research suggested that post event information obtained through discussion is more influential than information from a non-social source (Gabbert, Memon, Allan, & Wright, 2004).