NCJ Number
140425
Journal
Journal of Applied Social Psychology Volume: 22 Dated: (1992) Pages: 1241-1249
Date Published
1992
Length
9 pages
Annotation
To compare people's beliefs about eyewitness testimony with expert opinion, 79 college students and community adults filled out a questionnaire in which they reported whether they agreed or disagreed with 21 statements previously used in a survey of eyewitness experts.
Abstract
Results revealed significant inter-item correlation of agreement rates, although subjects differed from experts on 15 of the 21 items. Relatively few subjects believed eyewitness reports were influenced by exposure time, the violent nature of the event, or witness sex. Fewer subjects than experts knew about the fairness of a lineup, effects of lineup instructions, showups, exposure time, the forgetting curve, cross-race biases, hypnotic suggestibility, and color perception under monochromatic light. Conversely, more subjects than experts believed that eyewitness confidence predicted accuracy, that women were better than men at recognizing faces, and that hypnosis facilitated memory retrieval. For courts seeking to determine the extent to which juries need assistance in their evaluation of eyewitness evidence, the findings offer a tentative list of topics worthy of either expert testimony or cautionary instructions from the judge. 22 references and 2 tables