Term
| What is eyewitness testimony? |
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Definition
| Evidence given by witnesses to a crime, typically in the form of a verbal account to person identification. |
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Term
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Definition
| Memories for personally experienced events. Tend to contain details of the time/situation in which they were acquired. |
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Term
| Why is research on human memory important for the law? |
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Definition
| Eyewitness evidence is perceived by jurors to be very compelling, so memory needs to be 100% accurate. Eyewitness misidentification is the leading cause of wrongful conviction (70% of cases). |
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Term
| What are the 3 stages where eyewitnesses make errors? |
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Definition
1. Acquistion/encoding
2. Storage/retention
3. Retrieval |
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Term
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Definition
| What is encoded during acquisition is critical because it forms the basis for what is stored in memory and eventually retrieved when giving testimony. |
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Term
| 5 factors that can affect encoding |
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Definition
1. Exposure duration
2. Crime seriousness
3. Violence
4. Weapon presence
5. Perpetrator characteristics |
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Term
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Definition
- Data-driven.
- Begins with the image that falls onto the retina.
- Information is transmitted up to higher levels of the visual system until the object is perceived.
- Builds from individual stimulus features to unified perception
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Term
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Definition
| Sensory information is interpreted in light of prior knowledge, concepts, and expectations. |
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Term
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Definition
| We have a readiness to use past experiences and environmental context to perceie stimuli in a certain way |
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Term
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Definition
Mental framework or body of knowledge that helps make sense of unfamilair situations.
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Term
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Definition
| Schemas for events. Can have for events people have never even witnessed. |
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Term
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Definition
| Suggests we remember items better if they fit in with out schema and previous experiences |
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Term
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Definition
| Link between encoding and retrieval |
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Term
| Retrieval failure occurs when: (2) |
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Definition
1. Memory is no longer stored
2. Memory trace is stored but cannot be accessed |
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Term
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Definition
| Found that reinstating physical context in which participants encoded a list of words helped participants to remember |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| A person brings to mind information in response to a cue. Cue may be specific or non-specific |
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Term
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Definition
| Participants must judge whether the information presented to them has been previously encountered. |
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Term
| Non-optimal interview strategies (6) |
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Definition
1. Frequently interrupting the witness' narrative
2. Over-talking
3. Excessive use of closed/compound questions
4. Use of leading/suggestive questions
5. Rarely using open questions
6. Inappropriate timing/sequence of questions |
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Term
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Definition
| Police officers may have preconceived beleifs concerning the event. An investigator may direct the witness to focus on aspects of the event which they beleive are relevant. |
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Term
| Cognitive interview techniques (4) |
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Definition
1. Mental context reinstatement
2. Report everything
3. Reverse order
4. Change perspectives |
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Term
| Mental context reinstatement |
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Definition
Witness encouraged to recall the context in which they saw the event, including sights and sounds at the time, how they were feeling, and what they were thinking
Aims to increase the number of retrieval cues by reinstating the psychological context in which the event was encoded |
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Term
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Definition
- Witness is allowed to engage in free recall without interruption.
- Asked to remember everything they possible can, no matter how small the detail may seem.
- Aims to increase the number of retrieval cues elicited by the witness by reinstating the psychological context.
- Ensures witness' chain of thought is not interrupted
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Term
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Definition
Encouraged to begin their description of an event from different starting points.
Aims to circument the "filling in" of info using scripts. |
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Term
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Definition
| Witness is encouraged to try to give an account of the event from the point of view of another person. |
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