A Controversy in Forensic Psychology

A Controversy in forensic psychology is eyewitness testimony. It is stated that when a witness perceives a complex event, it is difficult for them to separate what they have seen and what they have been told later on. When a witness perceives an event, a number of factors can affect the accuracy of what was perceived and stored in memory. The factors that could affect are exposure time, or the salience of effect of the event or the witnesses’ prior expectations. A crucial period in the eyewitness is the time between an experience and whiteness’s recollection of that experience. The length and the event that takes place during the experience affect a witness’s testimony.

The next side of the controversy is that the accuracy of memory is influenced by what is demanded of it. Memory is less accurate when it is called upon to reconstruct an event than when recognition of the event is demanded. There are certain inferences that affect the accuracy of eyewitnesses. For example, individual differences in eyewitness abilities, the effects of stress and of the presence of weapons upon witness recall, the effects of racial differences between witness and suspect upon recall, and a broad range of other important issues. Basically, if witnesses were approached a certain way then memory would be able to be retained.

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