There is an item on the BBC news site today which emphasises how unreliable eywitness evidence is. It relates to that sad event in Crete where two kids fell from a hotel balcony, one being fatally injured. Their father was found not guilty of murder. Today's item concerns two witnesses of the event, a man and wife. The wife says straightforwardly that the father pushed the kids, she being surprised he didn't try to save them. The husband says the father DID try to save them as they fell.
Very many claims of paranormal events or sightings of strange things rely on eyewitness accounts. Here we have a perfect indication of the worth of these accounts as evidence.
There was an advert running on television some years ago, I think it was for the Guardian but might have been another broadsheet, where the same scene was filmed from two very different angles. From memory, in one, a young man was running towards a middle-aged woman to steal her purse; in the other, he was running towards her to push her out of the way of falling masonry (or similar).
There are issues of perspective, as well as immediate (and possibly often inaccurate) assessment of visual evidence.
I remember that advert well.
Don't forget, as well as being mistaken, eyewitnesses can straight out lie.
People and their memories are so unreliable there is a case to be made that witness testimony should not be admissible as evidence in a court. (IMO)
Yes, that's quite a famous advert.Originally Posted by DrS
It's an example illustrating that what we see (or strictly speaking, perceive) is as much a result of what we expect to see as it is a result of what really happened.
Eye-witness testimony is still allowed in court but only as supporting evidence rather than being primary evidence in itself (IIRC). The reliability of eye-witness testimony is now known to be far poorer then once believed.
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was studied many years ago, back in the 1930s, the BBC are a bit behind
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schema_(psychology)
there are many many case studies on the subject so I'll just mention the one done by Allport and Postman, in which they showed participants a picture of a black man having a heated discussion with a white man holding a knife. not very surprisingly they found that when asked to recall it later, the white participants would recall the black man holding the knife. on an up note apparently more recent test have begun to show that people recall it more accurately now, probably due to racial acceptance, but it still shows how our memory can be easily affected by our preconceptions.
Last edited by Tomolac; 27th March 2008 at 10:26 AM. Reason: as John said :P
When I was a student working as a bus conductor in Eastbourne during the summer, this had just happened. A bus arrived at the terminus, and changed direction by a 3-point turn involving reversing. Whilst reversing, the bus ran over an elderly lady who had got off the bus and walked behind it.
There were 12 people waiting for the bus at the bus stop, so they all had a ring-side seat. At the inquest, 6 said the conductor was behind the bus with a whistle (as per rules) and the other 6 said he was sitting inside the bus.
This left a lasting impression on me ....Mind you, it was Eastbourne.
Off topic, but I am very encouraged by thatwas studied many years ago, back in the 1930s, the BBC are a bit behind
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schema_(psychology)
there are many many case studies on the subject so I'll just mention the one done by Allport and Postman, in which they showed participants a picture of a black man having a heated discussion with a white man holding a knife. not very surprisingly they found that when asked to recall it later, the white participants would recall the black man holding the knife. on an up note apparently more recent test have begun to show that people recall it more accurately now, probably due to racial acceptance, but it still shows how our memory can be easily affected by our preconceptions.
Yes, I remember it well too. I have used that scenario to explain to my kids why they shouldn''t take everything at face value.
So do I. And the rest of you are remembering it all wrong.
Anyone remember more details of that advert? Im trying to find a copy but I only remember certain details about it and nothing is proving useful in a search.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=E3h-T3KQNxUAnyone remember more details of that advert? Im trying to find a copy but I only remember certain details about it and nothing is proving useful in a search.
EgadsWe should make babies
Cheers matey.
A hearty handshake and maybe a beer at some point is quite sufficient, thank youEgads
I remember years ago there was an exhibition at the science museum in London, where they played a short film and then asked questions afterwards. The film however had had some of the sounds and images mixed up. Not all of them and not voices just car doors shutting, some gun shots etc (you played the part of a witness in a robbery). I recall how surprised I was when at the end all was revealed. The brain just seemed to fill in the gaps or unscramble the sounds and images into something that seemed to make sense. Very interesting but a little disturbing.
You must be aware of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voAntzB7EwE ?
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