Eyewitness Testimonies - Assignment Example

Eyewitness testimonies are very important in the legal process. They help to form a part of the evidence so as to give a case credibility. However, not always can eyewitness testimonies be relied upon (Elizabeth, 1996). There are errors that are prone to b made especially while giving these accounts. Looking at photo identifications and line-ups, witnesses are rarely aware or told that the picture of the culprit might not be among the ones that they are looking at. Hence he witnesses nay not give their own original thought but is subject to looking for a picture that most likely resembles the culprit (Elizabeth, 1996). Some witnesses also make errors since third parties have introduced false memories to the witnesses. Research also shows that people are more likely to give accurate descriptions of their own gender than of the opposite gender. A woman is more likely to identify a woman culprit easily than identify a male culprit and vice versa.

Flashbulb memories are well-illuminated memories about a certain event that someone experienced. It is characterized by brevity and detailed descriptions of the time an event occurred and the subject’s awareness of the surroundings at the time of occurrence of the event (Alan, 1993). Flashbulb memories are more of an emotional relationship between the subject and the news. The news or event must have touched the person emotionally such that even after many years, they recall the details of such an event or news vividly.

Memory is better in young people than in the elderly. The youth are better poised to remember certain events than the elderly. Thus we expect that a 40-year-old is more likely to give a correct and more detailed description of an event that happened long ago than a 70-year-old (Alan, 1993).  Here are two competing hypotheses for the enhanced memory bump. The first deals with autobiographical memory. This memory enables one to remember events that happened in the past. Mostly it is nostalgic and may not be very detailed due to the many events that may have passed in someone’s life (Alan, 1993).

Reminiscence bump is the other hypothesis that is exhibited by people over forty. Such people often remember the details of young adulthood and adolescent years with either admiration or sympathy. This recollection of events is usually emotional and very personal and a 40-year-old can give detailed accounts of vents that happen at those times (Alan, 1993).

The availability heuristic causes errors in reasoning since one forms immediate conclusions from the immediate evidence presented. An example is an eyewitness claiming to identify a culprit from the line-up that is brought before them. ; Representative heuristic causes error in memory where one relates a certain sight to a past encounter (Alan, 1993). One may confuse a grasshopper for a locust from the way they saw a locust look before.

Illusionary correlations occur when people try to form similarities between two unrelated events or situations, i.e. trying to relate agony and dull weather. Confirmation bias s when people favor certain events due to their practices or beliefs. An example is favoring the expulsion of students caught fighting since fighting is bad instead of looking at other options such as rehabilitation (Alan, 1993).

Choices may be framed to make people give biased answers. An example is a witness being bribed they will be rewarded for not identifying a suspect. In terms of losses, a witness may be threatened so as not to give testimony against a suspect. The decision-making strategy employed here is looking at the long-term effects of making the choice (Alan, 1993). If one has no guilt in taking a bribe, then one would not mind giving false testimony. If one feels threatened, then they are likely not to testify so that they will not have to live looking over their shoulders.