Theories Explaining the Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony

📚 Quick Study Guide

• 🧠 Schema Theory: People reconstruct memories based on pre-existing knowledge and expectations. Accuracy depends on how well the event fits their schema.
• 📝 Reconstructive Memory: Memory isn't a perfect recording; it's actively rebuilt each time it's recalled. This can introduce errors but also allow for accurate inferences.
• 🧪 Weapon Focus Effect: The presence of a weapon can narrow attention, reducing recall of other details. However, if the eyewitness directly interacts with the weapon, some details might be highly accurate.
• 🗣️ Verbal Overshadowing: Describing a face verbally can impair later recognition, but it can also force focused attention on key features, improving the accuracy of descriptions if done carefully.
• ⏱️ Encoding Specificity Principle: Retrieval is best when the context at recall matches the context at encoding. Reinstating the original environment (mentally or physically) can enhance accuracy.
• 🔎 Source Monitoring: Eyewitnesses sometimes struggle to remember the source of their information, leading to inaccuracies. Clear source monitoring can improve accuracy.
• ⚖️ Confidence and Accuracy: While not always correlated, high confidence *can* indicate accuracy under certain conditions (e.g., immediate recall, minimal suggestion).

Practice Quiz

1. What does Schema Theory suggest about memory accuracy?
   1. It is always accurate.
   2. It depends on how well the event fits existing knowledge.
   3. It is completely unreliable.
   4. It is only accurate for details, not the overall picture.
2. According to the concept of Reconstructive Memory, memory is:
   1. A perfect recording of events.
   2. Actively rebuilt each time it's recalled.
   3. Stored in a fixed location in the brain.
   4. Only accurate immediately after the event.
3. What is the Weapon Focus Effect?
   1. Increased accuracy in recalling details about the weapon.
   2. Narrowed attention, reducing recall of other details.
   3. Improved overall memory of the event.
   4. Only occurs in trained law enforcement.
4. Verbal Overshadowing refers to:
   1. Always improving facial recognition.
   2. Always impairing facial recognition.
   3. Potentially impairing or improving facial recognition depending on focus.
   4. Having no effect on facial recognition.
5. The Encoding Specificity Principle states that retrieval is best when:
   1. The context at recall is different from encoding.
   2. The context at recall matches the context at encoding.
   3. The eyewitness is under stress.
   4. The eyewitness is shown photographs.
6. Source Monitoring involves:
   1. Remembering the size of the font in a document.
   2. Remembering the origin of a memory.
   3. Ignoring the source of information.
   4. Focusing only on factual details.
7. Which of the following is generally true about confidence and accuracy in eyewitness testimony?
   1. High confidence always means high accuracy.
   2. There is no relationship between confidence and accuracy.
   3. High confidence can indicate accuracy under specific conditions.
   4. Low confidence always means low accuracy.