The police and law enforcement officeely on the witnesses' testimonies while presenting evidence against the accused. An eye witness is usually a person at the scene of the crime and can provide a detailed account of all events during the crime. However, the testimonies provided by the witnesses may sometimes be inaccurate. In certain circumstances, the witness may intentionally offer a false statement. However, many other factors can also influence the accuracy of the information presented by the witness. Many researchers document a variety of factors that impact the credibility of the witness's information. Many studies show behavioral and psychological factors as significant elements that could affect eyewitness accounts' accuracy.
Psychological and Behavioral Conditions
Psychological factors play a crucial role in determining the credibility of the information that is presented by the witness. The mental state of an individual affects their perception of issues, which could lead to exaggeration, embellish, or fiction creation during the testimony. Previous studies have focused on the relationship between various psychological conditions and the ability to recall, perceive and memorize all the events during the crime ( Wise et al., 2014 ). Depression remains one of the psychological factors that affect the credibility of the information presented by the witness. Depression significantly affects an individual's memory, leading to an inability to recall and give accurate information during the event ( Hope et al., 2014 ). Even though the memory of the eyewitness may be accurate during the crime scene, depression during the testimony could significantly affect one's memory and, thus, the inability to provide the most accurate information. Researchers have studied memory as "an active, ongoing, dynamic process that consists of the perception, encoding, storage and retrieval” ( Sauer & Brewer, 2015 ). These processes lead to accurate identification of the events if crime by witnesses.
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Anxiety and panic attacks are other crucial areas of research regarding the impact of mental state on the credibility of witness information. Anxiety and panic are both psychological and behavioral, accompanied by excessive fear, worry, and other behavioral disturbances ( Sauer & Brewer, 2015 ). Anxiety during the witnessing at the crime scene could lead to the inability to memorize most of the happenings. Crimes that involve gunshots and killings are more likely to subject the witness to fear and anxiety, which could then affect one's ability to view all events occurring. Other studies focus on examining anxiety and panic by the witness during the testimonies. The eyewitness may have a clear memory of the events during the crime, but panic during testimony could adversely affect the credibility of the information presented. Lack of composure due to fear could result in the information presented is biased, exaggerated or based on fiction. Panic and anxiety affect one's ability to memorize all the information, which would affect the credibility of the information presented.
Research also focuses on analyzing the memory process. The perception stage of memory involves noticing events and paying attention to them ( Dodier et al., 2019 ). For an eye witness to recall a crime event, the person must have noticed and attended to it. However, internal factors such as needs, expectations, bias and interests influence what an eyewitness pays attention to during a crime. The witness may pay attention to a particular detail of crime but ignore other essential elements necessary for prosecution. The encoding process is required to transform the perception of the crime into memory. The encoding process is affected by mental factors such as stress, which could lead to low reduced long term memory. In most cases, psychological and mental factors associated with short term memory. When the eyewitness is unable to recall every detail during the crime, the credibility of the information presented gets adversely affected.
The ability to present accurate information by the witness also depends on storing and retrieving that information during testimony. However, psychological factors such as stress, depression and schizophrenia can reduce these memory processes. The storage of the encoded information from the past crime scene and retrieving it are essential to the witness ( Melinder& Magnussen, 2015 ). However, people who are psychologically disturbed may struggle to retrieve encoded information. Even if retrieved, a large proportion of such information may have inaccuracies. In some instances, the witness may struggle to identify the witness when mental issues are at play. Mental health issues affect not only the memory but also the confidence level, which would lead to inaccuracies in the information presented.
Studies into behavioural disorders have linked many behaviors to the incredibility of the witness testimonies. Behaviours such as substance abuse and addiction can impact an individual's ability to memorize events during the crime scene ( Wixted et al., 2015 ). A person who witnessed a crime when under the influence of drugs is less likely to have a clear memory of such events and may not give accurate information. At the same time, research shows that witnesses under the influence of drugs at the time of providing testimonies are less likely to have an accurate memory of the events during the crime. Many studies have examined the relationship between witnesses and accused as a contributor to the accuracy of the information presented by the witness ( Wixted et al., 2015 ). Intentional bias is a common behavior amongst the witnesses when testifying against friends, family and co-workers. A witness is more likely to provide accurate information when testifying against people not related to them. However, they are more likely to intentionally give inaccurate information if the accused is a friend or a family member.
Environmental Conditions
The existing elements during the scene of the crime can determine the ability of the witness to have a clear memory of the event. The existence of a gun, killings, or any disguise can directly affect the coding process of the crime events. The presence of firearms and other terrifying events can cause panic and distract the witness' attention from the real facts ( Hope et al., 2014 ). As a result, the witnesses of crimes that involved gunshots are more likely to lose accurate track of all the memories of events during the crime. The outcome will be more incredible information by the witness. Other studies also show that weapon focus can affect the witness's ability to identify the offender accurately. For instance, gunshots shift attention towards the weapon and not the shooter. The outcome could be difficulty in identifying the accurate face of the accused.
The length of exposure to the scene of crime also plays a vital role in the witness's ability to present accurate information. If the witness was in the crime scene for a long time, they may have perfect mastery of all the events and give precise details without gaps. However, a witness who only arrives at the scene when the crime is already on is less likely to present detailed and accurate information due to existing information gaps.
Conclusion
The witness information credibility is essential for the prosecutors during the presentation of the evidence. However, some of the information presented by the witness may be inaccurate and incredible. Many factors affect the ability of the witness to give accurate information. Psychological and behavioral factors are vital in determining the ability of the witness to present accurate information. These factors affect the witness's memory and ability to recall factual events of the crime scene. Environmental factors, such as exposure time and the presence of weapons, can also affect the witness's attention, and thus the ability to recall all the events.
References
Dodier, O., Melinder, A., Otgaar, H., Payoux, M., & Magnussen, S. (2019). Psychologists and psychiatrists in court: What do they know about eyewitness memory? A comparison of experts in inquisitorial and adversarial legal systems. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology , 34 (3), 254-262.
Hope, L., Gabbert, F., Fisher, R. P., & Jamieson, K. (2014). Protecting and enhancing eyewitness memory: The impact of an initial recall attempt on performance in an investigative interview. Applied Cognitive Psychology , 28 (3), 304-313.
Melinder, A., & Magnussen, S. (2015). Psychologists and psychiatrists serving as expert witnesses in court: what do they know about eyewitness memory?. Psychology, Crime & Law , 21 (1), 53-61.
Sauer, J. D., & Brewer, N. (2015). Confidence and accuracy of eyewitness identification. Forensic facial identification: Theory and practice of identification from eyewitnesses, composites and CCTV , 185-208.
Wise, R. A., Sartori, G., Magnussen, S., & Safer, M. A. (2014). An examination of the causes and solutions to eyewitness error. Frontiers in psychiatry , 5 , 102.
Wixted, J. T., Mickes, L., Clark, S. E., Gronlund, S. D., & Roediger III, H. L. (2015). Initial eyewitness confidence reliably predicts eyewitness identification accuracy. American Psychologist , 70 (6), 515.
