NCJ Number
232720
Date Published
2010
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This chapter discusses issues related to the relevance and determination of "eyewitness confidence," which is defined as "a cognitive feeling relating to the correctness of one's memory of a specific previously experienced situation."
Abstract
The chapter presents research results pertinent to eyewitness confidence and the accuracy of the memory report as deemed by the chapter's author to be of general interest in many situations. Research suggests that among the factors influencing confidence and the accuracy of the memory report are presumably 1) components of the current memory representation of the witnessed event; 2) the witness's belief about various aspects that are relevant for determining the appropriate confidence level; 3) the witness's cognitive style; 4) various conditions and events occurring at the time of the event; 5) the time between the event and the memory report; and 6) the circumstances under which the memory report is given. The chapter notes that previous research has shown that witnesses tend to be overconfident in the correctness of their own memories, but that this finding is not equally valid for all types of memory reports. When attempting to determine the validity of a witness's confidence judgment about a retrieved memory, it can often be useful to combine confidence judgments as a diagnostic tool of the accuracy of the memory report with other available information about the memory report. A more promising possibility, however, is retrieval time. Research on line-ups has shown that retrieval time can often be a useful indicator of the correctness of the memory report; it can also help in understanding the validity of the confidence report. Less research has been conducted on the link between speed of retrieval and realism of confidence for event memory. More research is needed in this area. 1 figure and 55 references