It is not uncommon for eyewitnesses to recall things at later interviews that were not recalled at previous interviews (reminiscence). Many legal decision makers assume that inconsistent eyewitnesses are necessarily inaccurate witnesses. Consequently, their testimony may be prematurely discredited or dismissed. In order to examine the effectiveness of various retrieval cues in eliciting reminiscence, participants watched a videotaped mock crime and were tested for recall on two occasions using the same or different cues. Results supported the hypothesis that varying retrieval cues increases the amount of reminiscence. Furthermore, all participants exhibited some reminiscence. Finally, reminiscence was not significantly correlated with overall accuracy of testimony. These findings suggest that many of the assumptions legal decision makers hold regarding inconsistent testimony are erroneous.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fiu.edu/oai:digitalcommons.fiu.edu:etd-5361 |
| Date | 30 March 2004 |
| Creators | Gilbert, Julian A.E. |
| Publisher | FIU Digital Commons |
| Source Sets | Florida International University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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