Question 1

Why is eyewitness testimony so unreliable?

Accepted Answer

Memory does not record events like a camera. It stores fragments and reconstructs them later, filling gaps with assumptions and information learned after the fact. This means a confident, vivid memory can still be completely wrong, which is why mistaken identification is a leading cause of wrongful conviction.

Question 2

Does a confident witness mean an accurate identification?

Accepted Answer

Not necessarily. Confidence and accuracy can be unrelated, especially after feedback or repeated questioning inflates certainty. Confidence only carries reliable information when it is recorded at the very first identification, before any contamination from the investigation process.

Question 3

What was the Elizabeth Loftus car crash study?

Accepted Answer

In a 1974 experiment, Loftus showed people a film of a car accident and asked how fast the cars were going, varying one verb. Those asked about cars that smashed estimated higher speeds and later falsely remembered broken glass that was never in the film, demonstrating the misinformation effect.

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The Witness Who Was Sure