Eyewitness Identification

Eyewitness Identification

• Inaccurate eyewitness identification is the primary cause of wrongful convictions.

Misinformation, Source, and Weapon Focus Effects

• The misinformation effect occurs when a person's memory is altered by misleading post-event information.
• The source effect is when someone misattributes the source of a memory and confuses its origin.
• The weapon focus effect is when a witness focuses on a weapon during a crime, which reduces their ability to recall other details.

Lineups vs. Showups

• Lineups, especially double-blind and sequential ones, are more accurate.
• Showups have a higher risk of false identification due to suggestiveness.

Eyewitness Confidence and Accuracy

• Eyewitness confidence and accuracy are related during initial, immediate identifications, high-quality viewing conditions, and proper lineups.
• Confidence and accuracy are not related after suggestive feedback, a long time between the event and identification, and poor viewing conditions.

Improving Eyewitness Accuracy

• Double-blind and sequential lineups improve accuracy.
• Avoiding confirming feedback and using non-leading instructions are essential.
• Avoiding multiple identifications and cognitive interviews helps.

Five Pristine Conditions for Accurate Witness Identification

• Only one suspect should be in a lineup at a time.
• The suspect should not stand out in the lineup.
• Unbiased instructions should be given to the witness.
• A double-blind procedure should be used.
• An immediate confidence statement should be taken from the witness.

Manson Criteria

• The Manson criteria are used to evaluate eyewitness testimony accuracy.
• The criteria include the opportunity to view the suspect, the degree of attention, the accuracy of prior description, the level of certainty, and the time elapsed.

U.S. vs. Wade (1967)

• A suspect has the right to legal counsel during a post-indictment lineup based on the Sixth Amendment.

General Conclusions About Eyewitness Accuracy

• Memory can be reconstructive.
• Higher witness confidence typically indicates better accuracy.
• The quality of viewing conditions matters.

Cybercrime

• Cybercrimes are primarily traditional crimes committed in a virtual space.

Cyber-dependent, Cyber-enabled, and Pure Cybercrimes

• Cyber-dependent crimes can only be committed using computers and digital technology.
• Cyber-enabled crimes are traditional crimes using digital technology.
• Pure cybercrimes can only happen in a digital environment, e.g., hacking.
• Hacking is an example of a pure cybercrime, involving illegal access to a computer system to steal data.

Situational Features Triggering Heuristic Thinking

• Time pressure, uncertainty, stress, emotion, familiarity, and multitasking trigger heuristic thinking.

Representative and Availability Heuristics

• The representative heuristic is a mental shortcut where people judge events based on similar past situations.
• The availability heuristic is when judgments about an event's likelihood are made based on how easily examples come to mind.

Warning Signs of a Romance Scammer

• Excessive flattery or fast attachment.
• Asks for money.
• Inconsistent or minimal personal details.

Stalans et al (2024) Phishing Study Findings

• People with low avoidant decision-making and high anxiety are four times more likely to be phishing victims.
• Using protective email strategies and avoiding vulnerable ones can reduce the risk of phishing.

Cybersecurity and Heuristics

• The representative heuristic tricks hackers by using similar-looking emails/websites from trusted brands.
• The availability heuristic is by using recent news events to make messages seem real and recent.

Confessions and Interrogations

• Body movements are unreliable indicators of whether someone is lying.

Video Recording of Custodial Interrogations

• 25 states and D.C. mandate the video recording of custodial interrogations.

Written Confessions from Minors in Illinois

• Written confessions from minors are prohibited without a guardian or attorney present.
• Prohibited if there's a failure to waive Miranda rights.
• Prohibited if coercion or unfair interrogation is used.

Interrogation Techniques

• Showing evidence is a technique more likely to make the guilty confess but not the innocent.
• Manipulating the context is a technique more likely to make the guilty confess but not the innocent.
• Building rapport with the suspect is a technique more likely to make the guilty confess but not the innocent.
• Strategic use of questions is a technique more likely to make the guilty confess but not the innocent.

Tactics Increasing Likelihood of Guilty Confessions

• Confrontation with evidence.
• Minimizing the crime.
• Offering sympathy.
• These tactics increase guilty confessions without similarly affecting innocent individuals.

Illinois Policy Changes to Reduce False Confessions

• Banning deceptive interrogation tactics for minors reduces false confessions.
• Mandatory video recording of custodial interrogations reduces false confessions.

Interrogation Decision-Making Model

• Suspects decide whether to confess or deny involvement in a crime during interrogation.
• Decisions are based on assessments of evidence, consequences, interrogation tactics, and personal factors.

Alford v. North Carolina

• Alford v. North Carolina allows a defendant to plead guilty while maintaining innocence to avoid a harsher sentence.
• The Alford Plea allows defendants to plead guilty without admitting guilt, accept conviction, and acknowledge sufficient prosecution evidence.

Deception

Increasing Lie Detection

• Lie detection can be increased through the devil's advocate question, turn-taking in interviewing, cognitive load, unanticipated questions, and repeating questions.

Duping Delight, Othella Error, Ostrich Effect, and Self-Fulfilling Fakery

• Duping delight is the pleasure a liar feels after successfully lying.
• Othella is the error of a truthful person appearing nervous/anxious is mistakenly judged as lying.
• The ostrich effect is the tendency to avoid negative or distressing information.
• Self-fulfilling fakery is when pretending to have a trait leads to actually developing it.

Polygraph Evidence in Court

• Over half of U.S. states ban polygraph evidence in court.

Characteristics Related to Detecting Deception

• Truthful individuals tend to answer questions directly, relevantly, and clearly.
• Subjective impressions outweigh objective measures, although gut feelings are not always accurate.

Ways to Increase Deception Detection

• Ask unexpected questions
• Encourage longer responses
• Pay attention to verbal and nonverbal responses
• Look for emotional leakage

Peer et al. (2014) Findings on Partial Confessions

• Partial confessions can increase guilt feelings rather than reducing them.
• People giving partial confessions often feel worse than those fully confessing.
• Observers often view partial confessions as suspicious.