The Interaction of False Facts and Memory Conformity on the Reliability of Eyewitness Accounts

• In Event: Jurors, Evidence, and Court Decisions

Abstract

This study uses an experimental design to examine the interaction of false eyewitness accounts and memory conformity on the likelihood that subjects can provide accurate information about a non-violent crime that they witnessed. Memory conformity occurs when one person's memory report about a witnessed crime influences the report of another witness. If an initial memory report is incorrect and influences the report of another, eyewitness reports will appear to be reliable, yet, they will lack validity. After viewing a staged crime that subjects initially believed to be real, subjects were randomly assigned to a number of experimental conditions where they were asked to provide as much accurate information as they could about the perpetrator. In one experimental condition, subjects heard an inaccurate description of the criminal provided by a confederate while subjects in another condition did not. The time between the crime and when subjects were asked to recall what they saw, their distance from the crime they witnessed, and the interview techniques used by the investigator when asking subjects to report what they saw were also manipulated and examined. Our results show that while eyewitness accounts can be invalid, such accounts can also appear to be reliable.

Authors

• Chris Rose, University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh

• Victoria Beck, University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh