Eyewitness Reliability in Motor Vehicle Crashes: A Primer for Practitioners 2nd edition

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Author: Patrick J. Robins
ISBN 10: 1-933264-68-3
ISBN 13: 978-1-933264-68-4
Copyright Date Ed: August 1, 2009
Pages: 104 pages
Binding Information: Paperback
Size: 6 ✕ 9 Inches (US)

A necessity for anyone involved with eyewitness reports.

Eyewitnesses, especially in testimony, can be a mess. Two witnesses can contradict one another over the same accident scene. Some acquire post-event misinformation. And human memory, always unreliable, plays a crucial role. Now you can be prepared with this book, exploring all the fallible aspects of eyewitness testimony. You will learn how a jury evaluates eyewitness testimony on the basis of witness confidence and personality. This book teaches you to counteract this by knowing what questions to ask your witnesses to get the most accurate information, where to undermine the eyewitness testimony against you, and how to avoid the pitfalls of eyewitness evidence. Dr. Robins cites case studies, research, and seminar demonstrations that are both interesting and educational. By learning from one of the world's experts, you will make eyewitness testimony an asset to your case.

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Topics Include:

Use of physical evidence
Limitations of physical evidence
Use of human evidence
Limitations of human evidence
Evidence and truth
Vision
Sensation
Perception
Central viewing
Peripheral viewing
Contrast
Attention
Perception of distance and speed
Processing speed and time
Perception of time
Perception and knowledge
Perception and expectation
Perception and truth
Sensory memory
Short-Term memory
Long-Term memory
Memory distortion
Memory and emotion
Sources of misinformation
Witness overconfidence
Forgetting in sensory short-term and long-term memory
Cue-Dependent forgetting
State-Dependent forgetting
Amnesia
The scientific model
Internal and external validity
The role of chance
Statistical significance versus usefulness
Human factors issues
Practical considerations

Preface

Chapter 1. Physical Evidence versus Human Evidence: What’s the Big Deal Here Anyway?
1.1 Making Use of Physical Evidence
1.2 Limitations of Physical Evidence
1.3 Making Use of Human Evidence
1.4 Limitations of Human Evidence
1.5 Evidence and Truth
1.6 The Frailty of Human Evidence

Chapter 2. How We Process the World Around Us: What You See Is Not Necessarily What You Get
2.1 Sensation
2.2 How We See Anything
2.3 The Structure of the Eye
2.4 Central Viewing versus Peripheral Viewing
2.5 The Role of Contrast
2.6 The Role of Attention
2.7 Day versus Night
2.8 Adapting to Changing Light Conditions
2.9 Illuminance, Luminance and Things That Go Bump In the Night
2.10 Sensation versus Perception
2.11 When Perception Fails
2.12 Perception of Distance and Speed
2.13 Processing Speed and Time
2.14 Perception of Time
2.15 Perception and Knowledge
2.16 Perception and Expectation
2.17 Perception and Truth

Chapter 3. Human Memory: I Have a Pretty Good Memory; It’s Just a Little Short
3.1 The Nature of Memory
3.2 Sensory Memory
3.3 Short-Term Memory
3.4 Long-Term Memory
3.5 Memory Distortion
3.6 Sources of Misinformation in the Real World
3.7 Witness Overconfidence
3.8 Memory and Emotion

Chapter 4. Forgetting: Forgotten but Not Lost?
4.1 Forgetting in Sensory Memory and Short-Term Memory
4.2 Forgetting in Long-Term Memory
4.3 Cue-Dependent Forgetting
4.4 State-Dependent Forgetting
4.5 Interference
4.6 Amnesia

Chapter 5. Good Science: From the Ivory Tower to the Real World
5.1 The Scientific Model
5.2 Internal Validity
5.3 Control
5.4 The Role of Chance
5.5 Statistical Significance versus Usefulness
5.6 External Validity

Chapter 6. Some Practical Considerations: Pick Me Up and Dust Me Off
6.1 What We See and Hear Are Products of Our Minds, Not of Our Eyes and Ears
6.2 People Are Very Poor Judges of Vehicle Distances and Speeds
6.3 Eyewitnesses Consistently Overestimate the Time Duration of Events
6.4 The Phrase "I Don’t Remember" May Mean Different Things for Different Witnesses
6.5 Human Memory Is Not like a Recording Device
6.6 Memory Is Autobiographical in Nature
6.7 Memory Is Not Stable Over Time
6.8 Our Memories Can Become Distorted
6.9 People Are Overconfident in Their Recollections
6.10 The Legal System Places More Trust in Eyewitness Evidence Than Is Justified
6.11 Emotion Facilitates Improved Memory for Central Events but Poorer Memory for Peripheral Events
6.12 Some Concluding Remarks

References

About the Author

Index