The Three Stages of Eyewitness Memory and Other Factors Influencing a Witness's Ability to Remember

Eyewitness memory can be unreliable; however, it plays a pivotal role in legal proceedings. Witness testimony shapes jury decisions and influences trial outcomes. Although a witness's confidence level can sway jurors, research shows that confidence does not always correlate with memory accuracy.

Various cognitive and social factors can affect memory, even making a seemingly real memory later be proven false. The reliability of eyewitness accounts has been intensely scrutinized in psychology and law. For this reason, eyewitness accounts should be treated cautiously and corroborated with other evidence to ensure efficacy during trials. 

Are eyewitnesses reliable for trial?

Eyewitnesses provide valuable testimony, but their reliability is often compromised. Since memory is reconstructive rather than a flawless recording, it can be distorted over time or “contaminated” after certain events. Stress, memory loss, provocative questioning, and the weapon focus effect are common contributing causes to inaccurate memory recall. 

Factors That Influence Eyewitness Memory

The accuracy of eyewitness accounts is influenced by external and internal factors such as stress, alcohol consumption, the focus of attention, and false internal beliefs about memory. Stress can hinder memory encoding and retrieval – fundamentally, the brain opts for survival over data collection in high-stakes situations. 

Memories can be manipulated and implanted. Alcohol is a common callout that can also block the brain from forming memories; as Martha Stewart famously explained in her “vodka defense,” – she could not remember an important conversation because she had been drinking. 

One of the biggest obstacles to the defense is how jurors interpret and understand memory. It is largely misunderstood as a process, and the level of trust given by a juror to a personal account of events can vary widely. What needs to be understood is that, unlike a video recorder, memory is reconstructive and malleable.

Selective attention adds another layer of difficulty to eyewitness recall. Witnesses may fixate on particular details—for example, a highly visible object or a specific action—which can cause them to overlook other important information, such as an individual’s facial features or contextual details of the event.

The 3 Stages of Memory

Examining the three main phases of eyewitness memory—encoding, storage, and retrieval—and the variables that may affect them is crucial to comprehending eyewitness memory.

Encoding

The encoding stage, or acquisition stage as it is sometimes called, refers to how information is initially taken in and processed by the brain. When individuals witness an event, they observe countless details—such as people’s faces, actions, tone, and surroundings. However, the ability to encode these details accurately is often compromised by stress, the level of attention focus, the environment, time, and other factors.

High-stress situations, for example, can significantly impair memory encoding. A notable study conducted with soldiers undergoing survival training demonstrated this phenomenon. Soldiers placed in high-stress conditions, simulating the experience of being prisoners of war, exhibited poor memory recall and were highly susceptible to post-event contamination. 

Stress narrows the field of attention, making witnesses more likely to focus on certain aspects, such as a weapon during a violent crime, and miss peripheral details – a concept known as weapon focus.

The distribution of attention during an event also impacts encoding. A striking example involves the famous "gorilla video" experiment, where participants focused on counting basketball passes and failed to notice a person in a gorilla suit walking across the screen. This illustrates how attention focused on one task can lead to the complete omission of other critical details.

Storage

Once an event is encoded, the information moves into the storage phase – where it is held for future retrieval. Memories are not static. They are malleable and can degrade over time or be altered by external influences.

A common issue affecting memory storage is post-event contamination. Information encountered after the event, such as media reports, discussions, or leading questions during interrogations, can reshape a witness's memory. Witnesses may sometimes integrate this external information into their recollection, creating a distorted or entirely false memory.

Given the high stakes involved, this behavior is especially concerning in a legal context. For example, a witness might confidently recall details of an event that are later proven false. Such false memories can have the same vividness and emotional intensity as true memories, making them difficult to distinguish. 

Retrieval

During the last phase, retrieval, memories that have been stored are accessed and recalled. Biases and environmental factors can greatly affect this process. Due to memory lapses, witnesses may find it difficult to remember specifics. Thus, they may use words like "I think" or "I believe" to support their testimony. Such hesitancy shows a lack of confidence and can lead jurors to view it as evasive or dishonest.

Overconfidence in memory, on the other hand, can be just as deceptive. Though confidence does not necessarily translate into accuracy, witnesses frequently testify with certainty about the events they remember. The relationship between detail and confidence has been studied in cases involving false memories, in which witnesses passionately and vividly narrated events that were later disproven.

For instance, in the Martha Stewart case, her claim of not recalling a specific conversation was interpreted as an intentional omission despite psychological evidence suggesting genuine forgetfulness.

Misconceptions among jurors regarding memory make retrieval even more difficult. Many people think unpleasant experiences should be permanently carved into memory and assume that any inability to remember key details indicates dishonesty. Scientific and psychological literature disproves this idea and instead demonstrates that trauma can affect how memories are encoded, stored, and retrieved later—posing difficulties for attorneys and requiring additional attention and education for jurors.

Implications for the Legal System

Understanding the complexities of eyewitness memory is crucial for ensuring fair trials and just outcomes. Legal professionals, including attorneys and judges, must recognize memory limitations and educate jurors accordingly. Expert witnesses can play a pivotal role in dispelling myths about memory, helping jurors differentiate between genuine forgetfulness and deliberate evasion.

Attorneys need to adopt practices that minimize memory distortion in litigation. These include using open-ended questions during witness interviews, avoiding leading questions, and implementing procedures that reduce post-event contamination.

The Science of Memory With Courtroom Sciences

Eyewitness memory is a complex and fragile process influenced by the encoding, storage, and retrieval of often incomplete details. Other factors can also further compromise memory accuracy. When attorneys lead with psychology, the litigation process can improve its handling of eyewitness testimony and adopt more rigorous protocols for more reliable and equitable judicial proceedings.

Psychology experts can help educate jurors on the science of memory and work with attorneys to understand the intricacies of eyewitness memory.  This not only aids in uncovering the truth but can help ensure that justice is served in every case.

Courtroom Sciences helps attorneys efficiently navigate litigation by providing psychological expertise, science-backed data, and expert support for all phases of litigation. Learn how CSI's litigation consulting experts can improve outcomes for your next case. Speak with one of our experts to get started.

Key Takeaways:

●  Memory is reconstructive and malleable, prone to distortion during any of its three phases: encoding, storage, and retrieval.

●  High-stress situations impair memory encoding and lead to incomplete or inaccurate recall.

●  Media reports, discussions, and leading questions – otherwise known as post-event contamination – can reshape stored memories and create distortions and false recollections.

●  Despite its influence on the jury, a witness’s confidence in their testimony is not a reliable indicator of its accuracy.

●  Many jurors believe memory works like a video recorder and underestimate how trauma and stress can degrade recollection.

●  Psychology experts can help educate jurors on memory science and work with attorneys to improve the reliability of eyewitness testimony.