Eyewitness testimony
Encyclopedia
Research in eyewitness testimony is mostly considered a subfield within legal psychology
, however it is a field with very broad implications. Human reports are normally based on visual perception, which is generally held to be very reliable (if not irrefutable). Research in cognitive psychology
, in social psychology
, as well as in the philosophy of science
and in other fields seems, however, to indicate that the reliability of visual reports are often much overrated.
. The opposite view is that observations are theory-laden: It is in particular associated with Norwood Russell Hanson (1924-67), Thomas S. Kuhn (1922-1996), and Paul K. Feyerabend (1924-1994). The property of observations varying with or depending upon the theoretical commitments of the observer. Insofar as observations are theory-laden, your beliefs—as shaped by the theory or paradigm
you accept—determines what you observe, so that partisans of different theories (or paradigms) will observe differently. http://www.db.dk/jni/lifeboat/info.asp?subjectid=238
It would also appear that many of the early studies of memory (e.g. Bartlett
1932) demonstrated how memories are not accurate records of our experiences. It seems that we try to fit past events into our existing representations of the world, making the memory more coherent or make more sense for us. For example a schema is a picture we carry in our minds to describe a certain environment. If you were asked to describe a restaurant you would think of, tables, chairs, plates, etc. Because of this it is possible for people to ask a leading question
to try and manipulate our memory to reinforce their case. Elizabeth Loftus
is a leading figure in the field of eyewitness testimony research. She has demonstrated through the use of leading questions how it is possible to distort a person's memory of an event. For example if you showed a person a picture of a child's room that contained no teddy bear and asked them "did you see a teddy bear?", you are not implying that there was one in the room and the person is free to answer, however if you ask, "did you see the teddy bear?" it implies that one was in the room and the person is more likely to answer "yes," as a teddy bear fits into that person's schema
of a child's room. http://www.holah.karoo.net/loftusstudy.htm
Louis R. Gottschalk
adds an additional consideration: "Even when the fact in question may not be well-known, certain kinds of statements are both incidental and probable to such a degree that error or falsehood seems unlikely. If an ancient inscription on a road tells us that a certain proconsul built that road while Augustus was princeps, it may be doubted without further corroboration that that proconsul really built the road, but would be harder to doubt that the road was built during the principate of Augusutus. If an advertisement informs readers that 'A and B Coffee may be bought at any reliable grocer's at the unusual price of fifty cents a pound', all the inferences of the advertisement may well be doubted without corroboration except that there is a brand of coffee on the market called 'A and B Coffee'." (Gottschalk, 1950, p. 163).
Garraghan says that most information comes from "indirect witnesses", people who were not present on the scene but heard of the events from someone else (Garraghan, 1946, pp. 292). Gottschalk says that a historian may sometimes use hearsay evidence. He writes, "In cases where he uses secondary witnesses, however, he does not rely upon them fully. On the contrary, he asks:
Legal psychology
Legal psychology involves empirical, psychological research of the law, legal institutions, and people who come into contact with the law. Legal psychologists typically take basic social and cognitive principles and apply them to issues in the legal system such as eyewitness memory, jury...
, however it is a field with very broad implications. Human reports are normally based on visual perception, which is generally held to be very reliable (if not irrefutable). Research in cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology is a subdiscipline of psychology exploring internal mental processes.It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems.Cognitive psychology differs from previous psychological approaches in two key ways....
, in social psychology
Social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
, as well as in the philosophy of science
Philosophy of science
The philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth...
and in other fields seems, however, to indicate that the reliability of visual reports are often much overrated.
Epistemological aspects
A traditional view is that theories are tested against observations, so that we have a clear demarcation between theoretical and observational statements; the former confirmed or disconfirmed by the latter. This view is associated with positivismPositivism
Positivism is a a view of scientific methods and a philosophical approach, theory, or system based on the view that, in the social as well as natural sciences, sensory experiences and their logical and mathematical treatment are together the exclusive source of all worthwhile information....
. The opposite view is that observations are theory-laden: It is in particular associated with Norwood Russell Hanson (1924-67), Thomas S. Kuhn (1922-1996), and Paul K. Feyerabend (1924-1994). The property of observations varying with or depending upon the theoretical commitments of the observer. Insofar as observations are theory-laden, your beliefs—as shaped by the theory or paradigm
Paradigm
The word paradigm has been used in science to describe distinct concepts. It comes from Greek "παράδειγμα" , "pattern, example, sample" from the verb "παραδείκνυμι" , "exhibit, represent, expose" and that from "παρά" , "beside, beyond" + "δείκνυμι" , "to show, to point out".The original Greek...
you accept—determines what you observe, so that partisans of different theories (or paradigms) will observe differently. http://www.db.dk/jni/lifeboat/info.asp?subjectid=238
It would also appear that many of the early studies of memory (e.g. Bartlett
Bartlett
-United States:* Bartlett, California* Bartlett, Illinois** Bartlett , commuter railroad station in Bartlett, Illinois* Bartlett, Iowa* Bartlett, Kansas* Bartlett, Nebraska* Bartlett, New Hampshire** Bartlett Haystack, a mountain* Bartlett, Ohio...
1932) demonstrated how memories are not accurate records of our experiences. It seems that we try to fit past events into our existing representations of the world, making the memory more coherent or make more sense for us. For example a schema is a picture we carry in our minds to describe a certain environment. If you were asked to describe a restaurant you would think of, tables, chairs, plates, etc. Because of this it is possible for people to ask a leading question
Leading question
In common law systems that rely on testimony by witnesses, a leading question or suggestive interrogation is a question that suggests the answer or contains the information the examiner is looking for. For example, this question is leading:...
to try and manipulate our memory to reinforce their case. Elizabeth Loftus
Elizabeth Loftus
Elizabeth F. Loftus is an American psychologist and expert on human memory. She has conducted extensive research on the misinformation effect and the nature of false memories. Loftus has been recognized throughout the world for her work, receiving numerous awards and honorary degrees...
is a leading figure in the field of eyewitness testimony research. She has demonstrated through the use of leading questions how it is possible to distort a person's memory of an event. For example if you showed a person a picture of a child's room that contained no teddy bear and asked them "did you see a teddy bear?", you are not implying that there was one in the room and the person is free to answer, however if you ask, "did you see the teddy bear?" it implies that one was in the room and the person is more likely to answer "yes," as a teddy bear fits into that person's schema
Schema (psychology)
A schema , in psychology and cognitive science, describes any of several concepts including:* An organized pattern of thought or behavior.* A structured cluster of pre-conceived ideas....
of a child's room. http://www.holah.karoo.net/loftusstudy.htm
Findings from History
R. J. Shafer offers this checklist for evaluating eyewitness testimony: (Garraghan, 1946, pp. 157-158).- Is the real meaning of the statement different from its literal meaning? Are words used in senses not employed today? Is the statement meant to be ironic (i.e., mean other than it says)?
- How well could the author observe the thing he reports? Were his senses equal to the observation? Was his physical location suitable to sight, hearing, touch? Did he have the proper social ability to observe: did he understand the language, have other expertise required (e.g., law, military); was he not being intimidated by his wife or the secret police?
- How did the author report?, and what was his ability to do so?
- Regarding his ability to report, was he biased? Did he have proper time for reporting? Proper place for reporting? Adequate recording instruments?
- When did he report in relation to his observation? Soon? Much later?
- What was the author's intention in reporting? For whom did he report? Would that audience be likely to require or suggest distortion to the author?
- Are there additional clues to intended veracity? Was he indifferent on the subject reported, thus probably not intending distortion? Did he make statements damaging to himself, thus probably not seeking to distort? Did he give incidental or casual information, almost certainly not intended to mislead?
- Do his statements seem inherently improbable: e.g., contrary to human nature, or in conflict with what we know?
- Remember that some types of information are easier to observe and report on than others.
- Are there inner contradictions in the document?
Louis R. Gottschalk
Louis R. Gottschalk
Louis Reichenthal Gottschalk was an American historian, an expert on Lafayette and the French Revolution. He taught for many years at the University of Chicago, where he was the Gustavus F. and Ann M...
adds an additional consideration: "Even when the fact in question may not be well-known, certain kinds of statements are both incidental and probable to such a degree that error or falsehood seems unlikely. If an ancient inscription on a road tells us that a certain proconsul built that road while Augustus was princeps, it may be doubted without further corroboration that that proconsul really built the road, but would be harder to doubt that the road was built during the principate of Augusutus. If an advertisement informs readers that 'A and B Coffee may be bought at any reliable grocer's at the unusual price of fifty cents a pound', all the inferences of the advertisement may well be doubted without corroboration except that there is a brand of coffee on the market called 'A and B Coffee'." (Gottschalk, 1950, p. 163).
Garraghan says that most information comes from "indirect witnesses", people who were not present on the scene but heard of the events from someone else (Garraghan, 1946, pp. 292). Gottschalk says that a historian may sometimes use hearsay evidence. He writes, "In cases where he uses secondary witnesses, however, he does not rely upon them fully. On the contrary, he asks:
- On whose primary testimony does the secondary witness base his statements?
- Did the secondary witness accurately report the primary testimony as a whole?
- If not, in what details did he accurately report the primary testimony? Satisfactory answers to the second and third questions may provide the historian with the whole or the gist of the primary testimony upon which the secondary witness may be his only means of knowledge. In such cases the secondary source is the historian's 'original' source, in the sense of being the 'origin' of his knowledge. Insofar as this 'original' source is an accurate report of primary testimony, he tests its credibility as he would that of the primary testimony itself." (Gottschalk, 1950, p. 165).
Literature and References
- Garraghan, Gilbert J. (1946). A Guide to Historical Method. New York: Fordham University Press. ISBN 0-8371-7132-6.
- Gottschalk, LouisLouis R. GottschalkLouis Reichenthal Gottschalk was an American historian, an expert on Lafayette and the French Revolution. He taught for many years at the University of Chicago, where he was the Gustavus F. and Ann M...
(1950). Understanding History: A Primer of Historical Method. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-30215-X. - Johnson, M. K. (2001). False Memories, Psychology of. IN: Smelser, N. J. & Baltes, P. B. (eds.) International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Amsterdam: Elsevier. (Pp. 5254-5259).
- Lakatos, I. (1970). Falsification and the methodology of scientific research programmes. In: Lakatos, I. & Musgrave, A. E. (eds.), Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press: 59-89.
- Loftus, Elizabeth F. (1996). Eyewitness Testimony. Revised edition. Cambridge, MA: Harward University Press. (Original edition: 1979).
- Read, J. D. (2001). Eyewitness Memory: Psychological Aspects. IN: Smelser, N. J. & Baltes, P. B. (eds.) International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Amsterdam: Elsevier. (Pp. 5217-5221).
- Roediger III, H. L. (2001). Reconstructive Memory, Psychology of. IN: Smelser, N. J. & Baltes, P. B. (eds.) International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 12844-12849.
- Ross D F, Read J D, Toglia M P (1994) Adult Eyewitness Testimony: Current Trends and Developments. New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Shepherd J W, Ellis H D, Davies G M (1982). Identification Evidence: A Psychological Evaluation. Aberdeen University Press, Aberdeen, UK
- Thompson C P, Herrmann D, Read J D, Bruce D, Payne D G, Toglia, M P (1998). Eyewitness Memory: Theoretical and Applied Perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
See also
- Anecdotal evidenceAnecdotal evidenceThe expression anecdotal evidence refers to evidence from anecdotes. Because of the small sample, there is a larger chance that it may be true but unreliable due to cherry-picked or otherwise unrepresentative of typical cases....
- ConfabulationConfabulationConfabulation is the process in which a memory is remembered falsely. Confabulations are indicative of a complicated and intricate process that can be led astray at any given point during encoding, storage, or recall of a memory. Two distinct types of confabulation are often distinguished...
(False memory) - Eyewitness identificationEyewitness identificationEyewitness identification, in criminal law, is evidence received from a witness "who has actually seen an event and can so testify in court"....
- Historical methodHistorical methodHistorical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write histories in the form of accounts of the past. The question of the nature, and even the possibility, of a sound historical method is raised in the...
- Legal psychologyLegal psychologyLegal psychology involves empirical, psychological research of the law, legal institutions, and people who come into contact with the law. Legal psychologists typically take basic social and cognitive principles and apply them to issues in the legal system such as eyewitness memory, jury...
- Mistaken identityMistaken identityMistaken identity is a defense in criminal law which claims the actual innocence of the criminal defendant, and attempts to undermine evidence of guilt by asserting that any eyewitness to the crime incorrectly thought that they saw the defendant, when in fact the person seen by the witness was...
- Source criticismSource criticismA source criticism is a published source evaluation . An information source may be a document, a person, a speech, a fingerprint, a photo, an observation or anything used in order to obtain knowledge. In relation to a given purpose, a given information source may be more or less valid, reliable or...