NCJ Number
107503
Date Published
1987
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.
Abstract
The accuracy of eyewitness accounts is consistent with a reconstructive approach to memory that views it in terms of forgetting and the amalgamation of what actually happened and what was heard, intuited, or inferred. Temporal factors, such as duration and frequency of an event, affect encoding and subsequent memory. In addition, a core event is usually better recalled than peripheral details. Other factors affecting accuracy of recall include expectations, stress, and level of arousal. Factors affecting retention include time since the event, information acquired during the retention interval, and the malleability of memory. Central, familiar, and well-encoded information is more resistant to forgetting and distortion; and interviewing techniques can facilitate or hinder retrieval and accuracy. In general, individual differences such as intelligence, sex, and personality are not predictive of recall accuracy; although anxiety level and self-preoccupation appear to reduce accuracy. Finally, age appears to affect memory: children and the elderly tend to remember less than other subjects. Implications for psychological expert testimony are noted. Approximately 225 references.