Understanding the science of eyewitness identifications
July 6, 2011 in Psychology & PsychiatryMistaken eyewitness identification is a primary cause of wrongful convictions in the United States. This link between false identifications and false convictions has spurred a reform movement to change the way that police conduct eyewitness identification procedures.
New procedures by some states and local jurisdictions for conducting eyewitness identifications are intended to reduce those false identifications. In California, the Legislature has considered several bills designed to create guidelines for eyewitness identification procedures. The Legislature passed Senate Bill 756, but it was vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2007. A new bill, AB 308, is being considered in the California Assembly.
Current research suggests that the new procedures do reduce the risk of false identifications of the innocent, but those procedures may also reduce the number of correct identifications of the guilty, according to Steven E. Clark, professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside. Clark will discuss the science of eyewitness identification at noon on July 14 at the University of California Center in Sacramento, 1130 K Street, Room LL3.
These new procedures make witnesses less likely to make an identification, said Clark, who is known internationally for his research on human memory and eyewitness identification. That means that innocent people are identified less often, and guilty people are identified less often. Policy decisions to implement or not implement new procedures are complicated by a fundamental trade-off between false identifications that are avoided and correct identifications that are lost.
This raises a number of questions, he said. What is the exchange rate between the number of correct identifications lost and the number of false identifications avoided? And, what should that exchange rate be? The answer to the first question is provided by the scientific research on eyewitness identification. The answer to the second question the should question - is more complicated. It requires policy-makers to consider the social costs of both kinds of errors the false identifications of the innocent as well as the false non-identifications of the guilty.
Clark explained that psychological science can best assist policy-makers by providing a clear and comprehensive picture of the relevant data, and by developing new theories and new frameworks that better connect eyewitness research to public policy.
Clark has been involved in more than 200 criminal and civil cases, has consulted with prosecution and defense attorneys, and has testified as an expert in federal and state courts in six states, including California. Much of his research has been funded by the National Science Foundation.
The current status of AB 308 may be found at http://www.aroundt … 08/20112012/
More information: Registration is requested for Clarks presentation, Eyewitness Identification Reform: Psychological Science and Public Policy, at uccs.ucdavis.edu/events/2011-July-14-StevenClark.
Provided by University of California, Riverside
-
Eye-witness identification may be attributed to bias
Sep 13, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Witness for the prosecution? The effect of confessions on eyewitness testimony
Jan 28, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Study: Traditional police lineups valuable
Mar 29, 2006 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Did I see what I think I saw?
Jan 28, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Exonerations correct only a small fraction of false convictions
Jan 06, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Of mice and mental models: Neuroscientific implications of risk-optimized behavior in the mouse
7 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
-
Limits to growth: Scientists identify key metastasis-enabling enzyme
May 22, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
-
Seeing is as seeing does: Spatially-structured retinal input in early development of cortical maps
Apr 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
1
-
Dreamless nights: Brain activity during nonrapid eye movement sleep
Apr 09, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (12) |
0
-
Take your time: Neurobiology sheds light on the superiority of spaced vs. massed learning
Mar 28, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (21) |
3
-
A question about drug tolerance
May 23, 2012
-
Poor nutrition leading to overeating?
May 23, 2012
-
Math and dyslexia?
May 21, 2012
-
portable metabolism meter?
May 21, 2012
-
Rare medical conditions on 20/20 tonight
May 18, 2012
-
"Good" Cholesterol in Doubt
May 17, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
More mental health care urged for kids who self-harm
(HealthDay) -- Doctors have long known that some kids suffering severe emotional turmoil find relief in physical pain -- cutting or burning or sticking themselves with pins to achieve a form of release.
Psychology & Psychiatry
3 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Questionable research practices surprisingly common
(Medical Xpress) -- Not all scientific misconduct is flat-out fraud. Much falls into the murkier realm of questionable research practices. A new study finds that in one field, psychology, these practices are surprisingly ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
7 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
|
Feeling strong emotions makes peoples' brains 'tick together'
Experiencing strong emotions synchronises brain activity across individuals, research team at Aalto University and Turku PET Centre in Finland has revealed.
Psychology & Psychiatry
May 24, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
Formal recognition of PMDD will lift stigma for women
A decision to recognise premenstrual dysphoric disorder as a genuine psychiatric condition will finally provide validation for this awful and poorly understood syndrome and alleviate the stigma ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
May 24, 2012 |
2 / 5 (1) |
1
Long-term meditation leads to different brain organization
(Medical Xpress) -- People who practice mindfulness meditation learn to accept their feelings, emotions, and states of mind without judging or resisting them. They simply live in the moment.
Psychology & Psychiatry
May 24, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
|
Early physical therapist treatment associated with reduced risk of healthcare utilization and reduced overall healthcare
A new study published in Spine shows that early treatment by a physical therapist for low back pain (LBP), as compared to delayed treatment, was associated with reduced risk of subsequent healthcare utilization and lower ...
Skp2 activates cancer-promoting, glucose-processing Akt
HER2 and its epidermal growth factor receptor cousins mobilize a specialized protein to activate a major player in cancer development and sugar metabolism, scientists report in the May 25 issue of Cell.
Of mice and mental models: Neuroscientific implications of risk-optimized behavior in the mouse
(Medical Xpress) -- Regardless of an organism’s biological complexity, every encephalized animal continuously makes under-informed behavioral choices that can have serious consequences. Despite its ubiquity, ...
Cancer may require simpler genetic mutations than previously thought
Chromosomal deletions in DNA often involve just one of two gene copies inherited from either parent. But scientists haven't known how a deletion in one gene from one parent, called a "hemizygous" deletion, can contribute ...
Inherited DNA change explains overactive leukemia gene
A small inherited change in DNA is largely responsible for overactivating a gene linked to poor treatment response in people with acute leukemia.
Implantable pain disk may help those with cancer
An estimated 3.5 million cancer patients around the globe are in severe pain from their disease, but many get no relief.
Jul 06, 2011
Rank: not rated yet