Expert Witness Journal Dec 24 - Journal - Page 21
UK Courts 'Getting it Wrong'
on Eyewitness Evidence
A 'pivotal shift' in how UK Courts view eyewitness evidence is needed according to new research
from the University of Aberdeen.
A team of researchers led by Dr Travis Seale-Carlisle
from the University of Aberdeen collated expert opinion gathered from scientists from all over the world on
a variety of eyewitness memory phenomena. They
found an almost unanimous shift in beliefs about the relationship between eyewitness confidence and accuracy.
Psychologists who investigate eyewitness memory
have periodically gathered their thoughts on a variety of eyewitness memory phenomena since the
1980’s. However, the most recent survey of expert
opinion of eyewitness memory phenomena was conducted more than 20 years ago in 2001. The team in
Aberdeen sought to update this.
The research showed that in 2001, around 90 percent
of experts thought that the degree of confidence expressed by the eyewitness had little relationship to how
accurate they ultimately were. This opinion has now
flipped to around 90 percent of experts agreeing that
the higher the confidence of the eyewitness, the more
likely they are to be accurate in their identification.
The findings in full are published in Perspectives on
Psychological Science. www.journals.sagepub. com/doi/
10.1177/17456916241234837
This new understanding of the relationship between
confidence and accuracy is crucial for those in the legal
system to know and understand according to Dr
Seale-Carlisle:
This is true if certain conditions are applied when
collecting confidence and if the identity parade is administered properly. Another condition that the experts agree is crucial, is the time at which this
confidence statement is collected. It is most informative of accuracy at the initial identification attempt –
not later at trial, for example, which can occur months
or even years after the crime occurred.
“Psychologists who investigate eyewitness memory
used to think that how sure a witness was – or their
confidence in their eyewitness identification, was very
weakly related to how accurate they were. These opinions may have influenced policy surrounding eyewitness identification procedures in the UK.
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EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
19
DECEMBER 2024
