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reliability of memory
Eyewitness Identification and Testimony
summary essay of eyewitness testimony
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affect our memory. It is important to be aware of these factors and to question the accuracy of our own memories. commit due to inaccurate eyewitness testimony. Cognitive psychologists have conducted extensive research on the reliability of eyewitness testimony and have found that it can be influenced by a variety of factors, including stress, leading questions, and post-event information. In fact, studies have shown that eyewitnesses are often inaccurate in their descriptions and identifications, which can have serious consequences for the accused. As Loftus explained in her TED TALK, it is crucial that we recognize the limitations of eyewitness testimony and take steps to ensure that it is not the sole basis for a conviction.
Human memory is flexible and prone to suggestion. “Human memory, while remarkable in many ways, does not operate like a video camera” (Walker, 2013). In fact, human memory is quite the opposite of a video camera; it can be greatly influenced and even often distorted by interactions with its surroundings (Walker, 2013). Memory is separated into three different phases. The first phase is acquisition, which is when information is first entered into memory or the perception of an event (Samaha, 2011). The next phase is retention. Retention is the process of storing information during the period of time between the event and the recollection of a piece of information from that event (Samaha, 2011). The last stage is retrieval. Retrieval is recalling stored information about an event with the purpose of making an identification of a person in that event (Samaha, 2011).
Psychological research shows, a witness's memory of details during the commission of a crime, has a high probability of containing significant errors. In response to these findings, the question is should witness testimony still be permissible in a court of law? Obviously, the answer to this question is an important one and is debatable. Consequently, what we know is many innocent people go to jail due to eyewitness misidentification. Therefore, it is imperative that all defense attorneys thoroughly evaluate the validity of eyewitness recollection events. Any defense attorney who does anything less is ignoring the findings of the psychological community and its’ study of how the brain functions. As a result, an intense analysis of an
Human memory has been used by human as a tool to learn and think which includes social interactions, life management as well as problem solving (Loftus and Palmer 1974). Memory can be defined as the retention of information over time. Although memory is an instrument human use everyday, contemporary psychological scrutiny displayed that human memory is not a visionary reconstruction of earlier occasions making it less reliable compared to what an individual would alleged at the first place. In this paper it will be argued that human memory for past events are often influenced by other factors which can lead to inaccurate informations received. This argument is supported from studies made by Loftus and Palmer (1974), who found that human memory is not perfect since false memories can be constructed and manipulated using misleading particulars which subsequently produced deformity of memory and promote to wrong reminiscence. Evidence for this argument also can be seen from studies made by Levinger and Clark (1961), who found that human memory is not reliably accurate since false memory can be formed due to repression that may happen to an individual.
Involuntary memories come into consciousness without any attempt, and they happen all day long. Before taking the effort to record my own involuntary memories, I was unaware that there was a concept for them and that they happened as frequently as they do. Both internal and external aspects can cue an involuntary memory, and involuntary memories can range from extremely negative to extremely positive. My personal experience with recording involuntary memories showed a pattern between my emotional state at the time of the memory and the emotional state of the memory itself.
This study took place because if memories are believed to be inaccurate then why are things such as eyewitnesses’, in legal proceedings, taken so seriously when their memory can easily be false
Memory is an important part of our lives. It fills us with comfort, warmth, and happiness when recalling a joyous event; it may also illicit feelings of anger, sadness, or discontent. Unfortunately, our memory is not as perfect as we may think. In fact, our memory is extremely malleable. Most people think memory acts as a tape recorder; you experience an event, and like a video tape, you can replay the event over and over in exact detail as it happened. This belief could not be further from the truth. In fact, our memory is constantly being shaped by external factors. It is reconstructed in the way we want to remember it. Memory does not act as a tape recorder; rather it is constructed by us and warped by time, emotions, and external forces. Such forces can include the input of family members and friends who want “get the facts straight” with their recollection of the event. This falsification effect can have severely damaging consequences, not only for the person undergoing the recollection, but also for those under attack for these recovered memories.
Similar studies were done to a different set of college students and they tended to have the same results. After giving as much detail about each memory, the students were interviewed about what they may have written done about what they had remembered. During the last part of the experiment, each of the students were debriefed and asked to guess which memory they believed was false.
Memory is the tool we use to learn and think. We all use memory in our everyday lives. Memory is the mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experiences. We all reassure ourselves that our memories are accurate and precise. Many people believe that they would be able to remember anything from the event and the different features of the situation. Yet, people don’t realize the fact that the more you think about a situation the more likely the story will change. Our memories are not a camcorder or a camera. Our memory tends to be very selective and reconstructive.
The accuracy of eye-witness testimony is a prevalent yet controversial topic within the criminology field. Over the last 20 years, scientific psychology and research pertaining to eye-witness testimony has made great advances in discovering the factors that affect witness identification of suspects. It is considered that due to the fact that eye-witness testimony is often believed to be inaccurate, through applying certain recommendations, its accuracy can be enhanced, thus allowing it to become remarkably more reliable and continue to be admissible evidence within the criminal justice system. This essay will examine and define eye-witness testimony and its accuracy through: firstly, how human memory and perception are negatively impacted on
The findings of this research would reinforce findings of previous research specifically in relation to the robustness of false memories. The experiment undertaken by students will also be helpful to the study of false memories specifically to test the reproducibility of this type of experiment.
False memories have caused a major debate with many cognitive psychologists throughout time. Not only can false memories cause massive confusion but they are vulnerable to shaping and questioning later on. False memories are the recollections of possible events that have never occurred (Galotti, 2014). False memories may cause doubt, some questioning and eventually believing in an inaccurate truth. The memory is an extraordinary tool even though it has some shortcomings every day. Our memories can be influenced by emotions and suggestions made by others. Kihlstrom (2014) found through research that traumatic memories are most likely to be well remembered than everyday ones. It seems that people may forget events rapidly or gradually which leads them
While researching some interesting topics about science, I found a very unique and mind blowing article. I found a few more articles about the same topic which is particularly about how memory can be altered by your brain. There are studies, experiments, and professors who study this and has published their article online; to give us a better sense of how our brains work and the things that we should be aware of. In recent studies, human brain experts found that your memories can be changed every time you try to recall it. The goal of this paper is to explain misinformation effect, false memory, and effect of memory distortion.
Suggestibility is the tendency to incorporate false or misleading information into another individual’s personal recollections. Our brain does not store all the details from our everyday experiences so the brain can be susceptible to accepting suggestions about what actually occurred. Suggestibility is very prominent when dealing with childhood memories. Psychologists have used the idea of suggestibility to implant false information into people’s memories in order to make them believe that the experience actually occurred (Murray
According to Sternberg (1999), memory is the extraction of past experiences for information to be used in the present. The retrieval of memory is essential in every aspect of daily life, whether it is for academics, work or social purposes. However, many often take memory for granted and assume that it can be relied on because of how realistic it appears in the mind. This form of memory is also known as flashbulb memory. (Brown and Kulik, 1977). The question of whether our memory is reliably accurate has been shown to have implications in providing precise details of past events. (The British Psychological Association, 2011). In this essay, I would put forth arguments that human memory, in fact, is not completely reliable in providing accurate depictions of our past experiences. Evidence can be seen in the following two studies that support these arguments by examining episodic memory in humans. The first study is by Loftus and Pickrell (1995) who found that memory can be modified by suggestions. The second study is by Naveh-Benjamin and Craik (1995) who found that there is a predisposition for memory to decline with increasing age.
In order to understand the functional relationship between learning and memory we have to first define what both learning and memory are. Learning can be described as “the acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, practice, or study, or by being taught” (Merriam-Webster, 2014). “Memory is the means by which we draw on our past experiences in order to use this information in the present” (Sternberg, 1999). Base on this definitions one can conclude memory is essential part of our lives. Without any memory of the past, we would not be able to operate in the present or reminisce about the future. We would not be able to remember what we did a few days ago, what we have accomplished today, or what we intend to do tomorrow. Without memory our ability to learn would not exist. Learning and Memory are linked to our cognitive abilities as well as that of animals. An example that can be used to show the relationship between learning and memory is the study of how a rat behaves in a maze. As we all know rats have been used in experimental mazes since at least the early 20th century. Hundreds if not thousands of studies have looked at how rats run different types of mazes, from T-maze, to radial arm mazes, and to water mazes. These maze studies help scientist study spatial learning and memory in rats. Maze studies helped us uncover general principles about learning that can be applied to several species, including mankind. In today’s modern societies, mazes tend to be used to determine whether different treatments affect learning and memory in rats. According to Kolata al, 2005 case study the tasks that comprise the learning battery were specifically chosen so that each one placed specific sensory, motor, motivational, and info...