Psychology Chapter 9 Homework Buckhout’s findings have been reaffirmed by studies of mistaken identifications that contributed to known wrongful convictions.

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CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

► Understand the importance of eyewitness testimony in a criminal trial.

► Know the history of psychological research into eyewitness accuracy.

► Know how eyewitness accuracy, perception and memory are related.

KEY TERMS

Unconscious transference Robert Buckhout

Encoding Storage

Retrieval Yerkes-Dodson Law

Estimator variables Cross-Race identification

LECTURE NOTES

Eyewitness Testimony and Accuracy

Historical Perspective

In 1908, In his book On the Witness Stand, Hugo Münsterberg (1908) continued the critical

examination of the relationship between eyewitness certainty and accuracy.

But it was not until the 1970s that cognitive psychologists and social psychologists showed a

heightened interest once again in experimental research of eyewitness testimony and

identification.

In another study, Buckhout arranged for a New York City television station to broadcast a staged

mugging followed by a six-person lineup. Of the 2,145 viewers who called in, nearly 2,000

mistakenly identified the mugger in the lineup.

Over time, Buckhout’s findings have been reaffirmed by studies of mistaken identifications that

contributed to known wrongful convictions.

Perception and Memory

Encoding

The acquisition of information.

Yerkes-Dodson law

Describes the effects of arousal on learning. Under extremely low levels of external stress, a

Storage

The second step in building memory. The experimental psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus

Retrieval

The final stage in the memory process and involves the recall of information from the memory

store.

One study found that language can influence the retrieval of stimulus information. In this study,

subjects were shown a film of an automobile accident and then asked a series of follow-up

Stress

Has been found to affect the accuracy of identification. There has been research to show that

increased violence in videotaped reenactments of crimes leads to decrements in both

identification accuracy and eyewitness recall, but this finding is not true in all cases.

Weapon Effect

The visual attention eyewitnesses give to a perpetrator’s weapon during the course of a crime. It

has customarily been assumed that the attention the eyewitness focuses on the weapon will

reduce his or her ability to later recall details about the perpetrator or to recognize the

Disguise

When criminals use face masks, stockings, hats, and hoods to diminish their facial-feature cues

and reduce the likelihood of accurate recognition.

Intoxication

Much research has shown that alcohol intoxication while witnessing an event is associated with a

lower rate of correct identifications.

Cognitive Interviews

This is an example of a system variable which aids in accurate eyewitness ability.

The interviewer is guided by the interviewee’s pattern of recall rather than adhering to a rigid

protocol or predetermined checklist. The witness is encouraged to focus or concentrate on mental

images of the various parts of the event, such as the suspect’s face. The interviewer exhausts the

content of each image by asking the witness to form an image and then describe it in as much

detail as possible.

Lineups

At its simplest level, a lineup involves placing a suspect among distracters (called fillers or foils)

and asking the eyewitness if he or she can identify the suspect (or target).

Double-Blind Lineup

The person who administers the lineup should not be aware of which lineup member is the

suspect and which members are fillers. This helps to insure that police do not transmit either

covertly or overtly, suggestions as to who they wish the eyewitness to choose.

Types of Presentations and Presentation Bias

Simultaneous Presentation

Here the eyewitness sees the suspect and the foils simultaneously. (In a photo spread, the six

Sequential Presentation

Here the eyewitness compares each member in turn to his or her memory of the perpetrator and,

make a relative judgment in choosing someone from the lineup or photo spread.

Heterogeneity of Lineup (Foil Bias)

Lineups that do not contain heterogeneity are biased.

Size of Lineups

When a lineup contains too few people, it can have deleterious effects on accurate identification.

Instruction Bias

Eyewitness identification and the law

In Neil v. Biggers (1972) and Manson v. Braithwaite (1977) the Supreme Court established five

factors that determine the reliability of an identification:

(1) the witness’s opportunity to view the criminal during the crime

Subsequent research has shown that only two of the factors listed in Neil are actually related to

the estimation of the accuracy of identification (opportunity to observe and the length of the

retention interval). However, research has also shown that even these factors are moderated by

other variables, such as race or stress.

United States Attorney General Janet Reno’s Report

In the 1990s, Attorney General Reno commissioned a report based on Barry Scheck and Peter

Among the recommendations adopted by the Justice Department are the following:

1. When obtaining information from the witness(es), the investigating officer should use open-

ended questions (e.g., “What can you tell me about the car?”) and avoid leading questions (e.g.,

“Was the car red?”).

2. The investigator conducting the photo spread or lineup should instruct the witness that the person

3. In composing a photo spread or lineup, the investigator should select fillers who generally fit the

witness’s description of the perpetrator. It would not be fair to create a photo spread or lineup in

4. After conducting an identification procedure, the investigator should record the witness’s own

words regarding how sure he or she is of any identification. This recommendation is based on the

fact that eyewitnesses often express increased confidence in their identifications after they are

told by the police that they picked out the real culprit or after they learn additional information

that implicates the person they identified.

Ameliorative methods to problems associated with eyewitness identification

and lineups

Trial Simulations

Trial simulation have been designed to assess, among other things, juror sensitivity to

Motion to Suppress

Counsel who feel they may be adversely affected by prejudiced evidence resulting from

Expert Witnesses Testimony on Factors Affecting Eyewitness Testimony

An expert witness may testify in court about the factors which affect eyewitness testimony and

Cross-Examination

SUMMARY

This chapter emphasized the importance of eyewitness testimony as a means of

influencing jurors at trial. Despite the tremendous impact that such testimony can have, it is

unfortunately fraught with errors which have resulted in innocent people being sent to prison

or even executed.

Department of Justice recommendations for conducting lineups were presented and

include such factors as asking open-ended questions and informing witnesses that the suspect

may or may not be present in the lineup. Finally, the importance of educating the criminal

justice system to the frailties of eyewitness identification was stressed, as was the need for

implementing positive changes which make it more likely that only the guilty are punished.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Why is eyewitness testimony often considered the most important kind of evidence

next to an actual confession?

2. What parts did Albert Binet and Hugo Munsterberg play in the history of eyewitness

identification issues?

7. What is meant by a “cognitive interview”?

8. What is the “cross–race effect”?

9. What are some of the factors in lineups which determine its effectiveness?