Eyewitness testimony is widely used in criminal cases and certainly exerts a great dealof influence over jurors’ thinking. However, research suggests that eyewitnesses areprone to making a number of mistakes. An examination of eyewitness testimony alsoserves as a good illustration of the constructive (or reconstructive) nature of memory.Some interesting material is contained in the following Web sites.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dna/photos/eye/text_06.html
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-the-eyes-have-it/
Video (Loftus Ted talk excerpt): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB2OegI6wvI
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00703/fullhttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2405/is_n1_v119/ai_14153550
After reading at least the above materials and thinking about this topic, write an essay ofat least 800 words addressing the issue of how much confidence to place in eyewitnesstestimony, both from the general public and police officers.
-Why is eyewitness testimony so believable?
-Why are people so sure of what they saw?
-What factors might influence the accuracy of an eyewitness’s testimony? How mightthese factors come into play, for example, for an undergraduate at your school whowitnessed a robbery in a local bank and was called to testify?
-How about the credibility of the testimony of a police officer who witnessed the samecrime?
-What would you conclude about the use of eyewitness testimony? Should it be used?Are there any restrictions that should be placed on its use? Make sure to support yourconclusions.