17 Memory Errors
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Inquiry-based Activity: To convict or not convict?
Introduction: Many popular myths about psychology relate to the fallibility of memory (e.g., memory is like a tape recorder that can be played back exactly). Psychologists know that memory is actually quite fallible and subject to a myriad of biases. One of the most important implications of this fallibility is in the court room, where eyewitness testimony is considered the epitome of evidence. When looking at exonerations of convicted criminals, eyewitness testimony played a role in 76% of those false convictions (Gross & Shaffer, 2012). In this activity, students will form opinions about eyewitness testimony and then participate in their own mock crime scene where their testimony will be put to the test.
Question to pose to students: Should eyewitness testimonies be used within the criminal justice system?
Students form a hypothesis: Students should first formulate opinions independently. You may want to prompt them to think about particular cases they have heard about. Once individual students have expressed their opinions, have students get into groups with those around them. Each group does not necessarily need to arrive at the same conclusion, but students should be able to defend their opinions within the groups if they differ.
Students test their hypotheses: This next piece will require a bit of planning on your part and depend slightly on the context. Ideally, you should ask a friend or colleague to come into the class shouting at you (e.g., “I can’t believe you failed me/plagiarized that paper/etc.!”) and throw something like a wadded-up piece of paper. The person should be in the room for a short time, approximately 5-10 seconds. If you cannot get someone outside of the class to facilitate, pick a student to clue in to the activity ahead of time and use them. When the person leaves the room, immediately tell students they have witnessed a crime and should write down everything they remember about the person and the event. As a class, report out what students think occurred and write down all of the possibilities. It is likely that students will have widely varying answers and that it will be difficult to come up with an exemplar criminal based on their reports. Once students have reported out, the volunteer should come back in and (typically amongst laughter) be compared to what the students remembered.
Note: Students report that they 1) think being surprised/a bit scared makes the activity more meaningful, but 2) that the current climate of school shootings in the US did make the activity perhaps more frightening than it needed to be. Make decisions about this activity based on your students, classroom, and university.
Do the students’ hypotheses hold up?: As a class, discuss the results of the activity in the context of the original question. Were students accurate? If yes, what about the situation in the classroom might have allowed for good memory that may not be present elsewhere (e.g., good lighting, close distance, no weather interference). If not, what does that say about the benefits of eyewitness testimony? If it is not successful under idealized situations, should it be used at all? Students may have differing opinions here, and that is absolutely fine – the idea is to foster a productive discussion. How many students end up changing their mind by the end of the activity?
