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Reliability of Memory

Reliability of Memory. Eyewitness Testimony. The Innocence Project By the end of 2008, helped 220 individuals prove their innocence Guilt of 75% of them was determined by mistaken eyewitness identification Research Much of it is based on Bartlett’s research Guru is Elizabeth Loftus.

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Reliability of Memory

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  1. Reliability of Memory

  2. Eyewitness Testimony • The Innocence Project • By the end of 2008, helped 220 individuals prove their innocence • Guilt of 75% of them was determined by mistaken eyewitness identification • Research • Much of it is based on Bartlett’s research • Guru is Elizabeth Loftus

  3. Loftus’s classic experiment • Watched videos of car crashes • Asked a series of questions • The most important was, “About how fast were the cars going when the hit each other? • Conditions differed on the use the verb where “hit” is located: contacted, hit, bumped, collided, smashed

  4. Results • Average estimations of speed: • Contacted: 31.8 mph • Hit: 34 mph • Bumped: 38.1 mph • Collided: 39.3 mph • Smashed: 40.0 mph

  5. Conclusion • Memory is a reconstructive process • Different verbs activated different schemas which then influenced speed estimates • Leading questions can influence people’s recall

  6. Strength • Applies in real life • Eyewitness testimony

  7. Evaluation of Eyewitness memory research • Lab experimentation • Ecological validity • In real life • Accounts usually come from victims • Watching a video of a car crash is much different than seeing it in real life • Mistaken eyewitness identification has real consequences in real life • Mistakes are with the minor details

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