An Analysis of Elizabeth F. Loftus's Eyewitness Testimony

ISBN-13: 9781912128785 / Angielski / Miękka / 2017 / 87 str.

William Jenkins

Opis

Understanding evidence is critical in a court of law – and it is just as important for critical thinking.

Elizabeth Loftus, a pioneering psychologist, made a landmark contribution to both these areas in Eyewitness Testimony, a trail-blazing work that undermines much of the decision-making made by judges and juries by pointing out how flawed eyewitness testimony actually is. Reporting the results of an eye-opening series of experiments and trials, Loftus explores the ways in which – unbeknownst to the witnesses themselves – memory can be distorted and become highly unreliable.

Much of Loftus’s work is based on expert use of the critical thinking skill of interpretation. Her work not only highlights multiple problems of definition with regard to courtroom testimony, but also focuses throughout on how best we can understand the meaning of the available evidence. Eyewitness Testimony is arguably the best place in the Macat library to begin any investigation of how to use and understand interpretation.

Elizabeth Loftus’ 1979 work explains why people sometimes remember events inaccurately and how this simple fact has a profound impact on the criminal justice system, especially given the value placed on eyewitness accounts. Although, as these are based on memories that are not always reliable. Loftus recommends methods for gathering testimony that are less likely to distort memory and suggests experts on memory should be able to testify in court. Eyewitness Testimony led to important reforms in the American criminal justice system, inspired cognitive scientists to continue researching how memory works, and helped establish the field of psychology and law.

Spis treści

Ways in to the text  Who was Elizabeth Loftus?  What does Eyewitness Testimony Say?  Why does Eyewitness Testimony Matter?  Section 1: Influences  Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context  Module 2: Academic Context  Module 3: The Problem  Module 4: The Author's Contribution  Section 2: Ideas  Module 5: Main Ideas  Module 6: Secondary Ideas  Module 7: Achievement  Module 8: Place in the Author's Work  Section 3: Impact  Module 9: The First Responses  Module 10: The Evolving Debate  Module 11: Impact and Influence Today  Module 12: Where Next?  Glossary of Terms  People Mentioned in the Text  Works Cited

O autorze

Dr Bill Jenkins holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Michigan. He is currently co-chair of the Department of Psychology at Mercer University.