Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Effects of Integrative Memorial and Cognitive Processes on the Correspondence of Eyewitness Accuracy and Confidence

Effects of Integrative Memorial and Cognitive Processes on the Correspondence of Eyewitness... Reported correlations between accuracy and certainty of eyewitness identifications are sometimes positive, but equally often nil. Examination of theory and research in eyewitness, cognitive, and social psychology suggests that these discrepancies are due to differential instigation of integrative memorial and cognitive processes across eyewitness situations. These processes occur unconsciously and therefore may alter either memory or confidence independently of each other. As a result, accuracy-confidence correspondence should be inversely related to the extensiveness of reconstructive memory processes (which change memory but not confidence) and/or suggestive social influences (which change confidence but not memory). Non-correspondence is expected when memory is altered by inconsistent information, a criminal stereotype, or a descriptive label of the suspect; or when confidence is altered by factors that promote commitment to testimony or trust in facial memory. It is suggested that police and lawyers avoid behaviors that facilitate these effects and that, along with jurors and possibly even witnesses, they be informed that confidence is often a poor index of accuracy. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Law and Human Behavior American Psychological Association

Effects of Integrative Memorial and Cognitive Processes on the Correspondence of Eyewitness Accuracy and Confidence

Law and Human Behavior , Volume 4 (4): 14 – Dec 1, 1980

Loading next page...
 
/lp/american-psychological-association/effects-of-integrative-memorial-and-cognitive-processes-on-the-2nNnGh6n3V

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
American Psychological Association
Copyright
Copyright © 1980 American Psychological Association
ISSN
0147-7307
eISSN
1573-661X
DOI
10.1007/BF01040618
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Reported correlations between accuracy and certainty of eyewitness identifications are sometimes positive, but equally often nil. Examination of theory and research in eyewitness, cognitive, and social psychology suggests that these discrepancies are due to differential instigation of integrative memorial and cognitive processes across eyewitness situations. These processes occur unconsciously and therefore may alter either memory or confidence independently of each other. As a result, accuracy-confidence correspondence should be inversely related to the extensiveness of reconstructive memory processes (which change memory but not confidence) and/or suggestive social influences (which change confidence but not memory). Non-correspondence is expected when memory is altered by inconsistent information, a criminal stereotype, or a descriptive label of the suspect; or when confidence is altered by factors that promote commitment to testimony or trust in facial memory. It is suggested that police and lawyers avoid behaviors that facilitate these effects and that, along with jurors and possibly even witnesses, they be informed that confidence is often a poor index of accuracy.

Journal

Law and Human BehaviorAmerican Psychological Association

Published: Dec 1, 1980

There are no references for this article.