Question

In: Psychology

Consider eyewitness testimony, a facet of the judicial system that relies on the soundness of memory...

Consider eyewitness testimony, a facet of the judicial system that relies on the soundness of memory for its effectiveness. The following story demonstrates the grave consequences inherent in certain kinds of memory distortion.

In the days following Jennifer Thompson’s 1984 rape by an unknown assailant, law enforcement officials presented her with a “photographic lineup.” It was composed of local individuals who loosely fit Thompson’s description, including one man the police considered a likely suspect in the attack. Police and the prosecution relied on Thompson’s eyewitness testimony as a critical building block in the case against Ronald Cotton. Thompson’s memory-based selection of Cotton’s image eventually brought him to trial as a defendant.

Jennifer Thompson’s eyewitness testimony led to the conviction of Ronald Cotton for rape. Thompson described memorizing the details her attacker’s appearance that fateful night so that she might later help to catch him. Based on Thompson’s testimony, the prosecution won, and Cotton received a sentence of life plus 54 years in prison.

After serving nearly 11 years, Cotton was exonerated on the basis of DNA evidence. In the years since Cotton’s release from prison, he and Thompson have reconciled. They now travel together throughout the United States, speaking about the lack of reliability of eyewitness testimony in criminal cases. Unreliable eyewitness accounts of crimes serve as one example of memory distortion. Consider factors in the Cotton case that may have affected the accuracy of Thompson’s memory.

In this Discussion, you examine factors that might influence and create distortions of memory. You also explain potential consequences of memory distortion on eyewitness testimony.

With these thoughts in mind:

a brief description of factors that might influence and create distortions of memory. Then explain how one of those factors might create a memory distortion. Provide an example to support your response. Finally, explain three consequences of memory distortion in the context of eyewitness testimony. Justify your response using the Learning Resources and current literature.

Reference:

Innocence Project. (n.d.) Eyewitness misidentification. Retrieved April 25, 2012, from http://www.innocenceproject.org/understand/Eyewitness-Misidentification.php

Meegan, D. V. (2008). Neuroimaging techniques for memory detection: Scientific, ethical, and legal issues. The American Journal of Bioethics, 8(1), 9–20.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Schiller, D., Monfils, M. H., Raio, C. M., Johnson, D. C., Ledoux, J. E., & Phelps, E. A. (2010). Preventing the return of fear in humans using reconsolidation update mechanisms. Nature, 463(7277), 49–53.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Watson, J. M., Bunting, M. F., Poole, B. J., & Conway, A. R. (2005). Individual differences in susceptibility to false memory in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 31(1), 76–85.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Loftus, E. F., & Davis, D. (2006). Recovered memories. Annual Reviews of Clinical Psychology, 2, 469–498.
Loftus, E. F., & Davis, D., Recovered Memories, Annual Reviews of Clinical Psychology. Copyright 2006 Annual Reviews, Inc. Used with permission from Annual Reviews, Inc. via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Schacter, D. L., & Addis, D. R. (2007). The cognitive neuroscience of constructive memory: Remembering the past and imagining the future. Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 362(1481), 773–786.
The cognitive neuroscience of constructive memory: Remembering the past and imagining the future by Schacter, D., & Addis, D. in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Copyright 2007 by The Royal Society. Reprinted by permission of The Royal Society via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Solutions

Expert Solution

Memory distortions relate to erroneous memory report, which is unrelated to the real life event. Memory distortions are created by semantic relatedness, which causes conjunction errors. These errors takes place by mixing together different aspects of memory of an event or experience. For example, the words, blackboard and jailbird are often recalled as the conjunction word, blackbird. Memory distortions also take place when a third party fixes false memories in the subjects or clients, by using techniques like suggestion and imagination. Memory distortion also takes place due to unconscious transference. This happens when an eyewitness to a crime staunchly confirms that a particular person had committed the crime, only because the person appears familiar. For example, a person named Donald Thomson was charged of rape, post his appearance on live television. A person was raped while watching the television channel, featuring Thomson. Therefore, Thomson’s face became familiar to the rape victim in another context. Thus, the victim considered Thomson to be the rapist. Memory distortions also take place due to gist-based memory errors. Such errors take place when a person falsely recollects a material or information, which is related to a message or information that they had previously come across. Such errors take place when a person is unable to remember minute details of an event. He or she only recalls general information or the gist of the event.

The consequences of memory distortions are false eyewitness testimonies. Eyewitness testimony can be defined as a crime related account or observation given by a person in the courtroom. Memory distortions in the context of eyewitness testimony can have serious legal consequences, like imprisonment of innocent people. Memory distortions in such cases lead to miscarriages of justice. It results in lessening of faith in the judicial system of a country. Therefore, eyewitness testimony should be relied upon meticulously.


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