No, eyewitness testimony can be very inaccurate. When a person sees an event, they filter it through all their experiences, feelings, knowledge, and assumptions. Quite often, what comes out is a very incomplete picture of what happened. Police use eyewitness accounts most effectively when there are many eyewitnesses. They get all the stories and then piece together a more complete picture of an event.
memory
Elizabeth F. Loftus has written: 'Memory, surprising new insights into how we remember and why we forget' -- subject(s): Memory 'Eyewitness testimony' -- subject(s): Crime and criminals, Criminals, Eyewitness identification, Forensic pathology, Forensic psychology, Identification, Psychological aspects, Psychological aspects of Eyewitness identification, Psychology, Forensic, Witnesses
1. Have them identify the suspect in a line up ASAP. 2. Tell them that "not choosing" is a correct answer as well. Studies have shown that giving eyewitnesses this choice results in extremely more accurate findings.
how can one acces the accuracy of someone's memory
Depends. An eyewitness could be bribed into lying, could notice some one working with the attacker and give false information, or another reason. The main reason would be the shock and awe of the situation, causing some ones memory to be vague after the event. However, in some cases this could actually enable a better memory on certain subjects. So yes and no, depending on the person.
Eyewitness testimony can provide valuable information in legal cases by offering firsthand accounts of events. However, it is also important to consider factors that can affect the accuracy of such testimony, such as memory biases, suggestibility, and stress during the event. corroboration from other evidence is often necessary to support eyewitness testimony.
Eyewitness accounts can be influenced by factors like stress, memory distortion, and perception biases, leading to inaccuracies. Therefore, relying solely on eyewitness testimony can introduce errors into the investigation and legal process. It's crucial to corroborate such accounts with physical evidence and other sources of information.
A. Daniel Yarmey has written: 'Understanding police and police work' -- subject(s): Criminal psychology, Police, Police psychology 'The psychology of eyewitness testimony' -- subject(s): Criminal Evidence, Eyewitness identification, Forensic psychology, Memory
I was not an eyewitness to the crash, officer.
Actually, scientific research has shown that eyewitness identification is not always reliable and can be influenced by various factors like stress, memory decay, and suggestion. While eyewitness testimony can be useful in solving crimes, it is not always infallible and should be corroborated with other evidence when possible. Courts now recognize the limitations of eyewitness testimony and often require additional evidence to support it.
Eyewitness to History - 1960 Eyewitness to History 1959 was released on: USA: 1 January 1960