Myths
T/F: Children make good eyewitnesses
What is True, BUT only of a certain age.
Children aged five and older can be credible and competent eyewitnesses, particularly when responding to direct, objective questions. While younger children (under five) may have less reliable memory for source information and be more prone to false memories
Most convincing forms of evidence in trials?
What is eyewitness testimony?
The percentage of people who have been wrongly convicted due to eyewitness testimony.
What 72%
T/F: People have been known to confess to a crime they didn't commit
What is True?
The eyewitness may be interviewed by
what is the police, lawyers, etc
our expectations and beliefs about how the world works can have huge influences on
What is our memories
The type of test that reliably detects deception
What is lie detector test
False convictions based on eyewitness testimony are often overturned by
What is DNA evidence
Some memory errors are so “large” that they almost belong in a class of their own
What is false memories
Accurate memories can be recovered or enhanced through
What is hypnosis
The percentage of wrongful convictions due to false confessions that were later overturned by DNA.
What is 28%
Misinformation in a leading question can lead to
What is inaccurate memory
Age, race, gender.
What are some biases people have that can affect describing the perpetrator?
Why is eyewitness testimony so convincing?
What is We trust our own perception and experience.
Definition: misinformation that subjects were exposed to after the event (here in the form of a misleading question) apparently contaminates subjects’ memories of what they witnessed
What is the effect being described?
What is the Misinformation effect