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Eyewitness: How Accurate Is Visual
Memory?  (Top Posts - Social/Legal - 030809) Someone wrote: > [some bible tales, something the poster > believes in, something told to the poster > and reinforced in church, something the > poster, once he chose to believe it was > true, steadfastly committed to that for life, > with unshakable faith, firm belief, and > something akin to remembering the events > as if he had actually witnessed them] See the following for a strong example of how your 'memory' has been shaped by peers, and how once you decided that the tales you were told were true, you made a commitment to stick to that assessment that was so strong, it has pre- vailed for your entire life, regardless of evidence to the contrary and regardless of moments of doubt or of disbelief that most, even the most devoted 'believers', experience at times: - - - Eyewitness - - - Shocking, absolutely shocking, the report on a particular case that was based on some evidence, but primarily on the strong testimony of a 'certain' eyewitness who, while being raped, says she made a dedi- cated effort to remember the face of the rapist, who then picked the rapist out of a photo line-up, who then chose the rapist out of a live line-up, who then, in -2- trials, reaffirmed her memory of who the rapist was, with firm conviction, with 'certainty'. Then, 11 years later, she and the 'rapist' discovered that there was the slightest of evidence still remaining, a snippet of DNA, and that DNA not only exonerated the 'rapist', but pointed to another guy, a guy who was in court sitting in front of the rape victim, of the crime. The accuser and the 'rapist' who had spent 11 years in prison, later met, at a church, and he offered her forgive- ness. This story brings tears to my eyes, not only in the malleable way in which the brain works, something I'd been aware of regarding the way most children are influenced to believe in religious tales, but also in the way the brain is so mal- leable, that even in strongly remembered recent events, one can easily be misled to believe something happened that did not, in fact, happen. A human is influenced to believe some- thing is true, and even when contradic- tory evidence is present, once that truth decision has been committed to, most cling to it as if it was real. I urge those with video capability to view each of the following 60 minute videos, one at a time, to grasp and to remember how fragile human memory is, and how malleable it is, and how it can be influ- enced in a manner differing from truth: - - - 60 Minutes -- Introduction to stories in the 3/8/2009 version of the show, includes entire show http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4852679n%3fsource=search_video - - - Eyewitness Testimony -- Part 1 of 2 A woman was raped, and during the rape, made a con- certed effort to remember what the rapist looked like so, were she to survive, she could help the police catch and imprison the rapist. Later, from a line-up, she picked the person who she thought was the rapist out of a line-up. It was the same person she had previously seen in a photo line-up. He was convicted. While in prison, the convicted rapist met the real rapist in prison, the real rapist who was convicted on another rape charge. On a re-trial, the woman who had originally picked the non-rapist stayed with her false memory, and sent the non-rapist back to prison, and didn't recognize the real rapist who was at the trial. Later, DNA evidence revealed that the convicted rapist was innocent of the crime. The convicted rapist eventually met the woman who had falsely accused him of the crime, and forgave her. - - - Eyewitness Testimony -- Part 2 of 2 DNA evidence has exonerated over 230 men who were previously convicted -- the number one culprit, erroneous eyewitness testimony in 75% of the cases. In all the cases where the eyewitness was wrong, the real culprit was not in the original line-up. Eye- witness testimony is often wrong, but is often very convincing to juries. Once a wrong person is picked from a line-up, the person selecting the wrong person becomes oblivious to the real culprit, even when they see the real culprit, choosing instead to stick with the incorrect selection regardless of evidence to the contrary. - - - Follow-up -- Link to 6-part text version of the Eyewitness story: - - - Eyewitness: How Accurate Is Visual Memory? Lesley Stahl Reports On Flaws In Eyewitness Testimony That Lead To Wrong Convictions March 8, 2009 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/06/60minutes/main4848039.shtml - - - - - - Follow-up -- Link to a story posted the day before the 9-11 disaster, a story which supports the way memory is described in this article: - - - Eyewitness Testimony Often Flawed September 10, 2001 http://prohuman.net/prohumanistfreeloverdaily/091001.htm - - - Excerpt: In 20 percent of eyewitness identifications of Incorrect eyewitness testimony turns out to be Why is there so much inaccurate eyewitness False memories can be planted from scratch. Put another way, "assisted" memories are increas- - - - end excerpt - - - |
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