Testing the Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony

Sareena Avadhany · Post by **Sareena Avadhany** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:18 pm

drago...

About your research. You write however much you've read that is relevant to your topic.

It sounded interesting, but where is the relevance in terms of time delay and accuracy of an eyewitness account. You talked about memory factors. What about time delay. That's what you're testing...that's also what you need to write about.

Sincerely,
Sareena

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:30 am

Hi Sareena,

Research: Eyewitness accounts provide important evidence that may help identify a criminal suspect or arrest an innocent being. Eyewitness identification heavily influences the verdicts by juries. Eyewitness accuracy may be reduced by errors that occur within the memory process.
There are three stages of memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval. The first stage, encoding, is when information is first acquired. According to the Yerkes-Dodson principle, information is best acquired when a person has a moderate level of stress. With extreme stress, information can be lost or inaccurate.
The second stage of memory, called storage, is when the information is stored. Interference and decay can reduce the accuracy of the stored information. Decay happens due the passage of time, or time delay? The amount of time that passed between the witnessing of the crime and the questioning of the eyewitness can determine the amount of information that the eyewitness recalls. Interference occurs when new information is stored and causes the old information to get hidden or lost. When eyewitnesses are asked questions about the crime but has nothing to do with it, it is misleading and gets stored into storage, causing the eyewitnessesâ€™ memory to be inaccurate.
The last stage of memory, retrieval, involves the recall of information from storage. The types of questions asked to the eyewitnesses may help the eyewitnesses recall the important details from the event.

I think passage of time = time delay.

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:36 am

my other purpose stopped at affect.. I forgot to put the others..

Purpose: The purpose of this project is to determine whether eyewitness reports are reliable enough to be used as evidence in criminal convictions by examining whether time delay is a factor that affects how well a person recollects an event.

-drago76

Sareena Avadhany · Post by **Sareena Avadhany** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:50 am

drago,

So far so good. I saw for your research that part about time delay. Is there anything more you can write about time delay? If so, I would suggest giving more insight into time delay and how it affects an eye witness testimony. If not, what you have is sufficient enough.

Your project is looking great!

Hope this helps,
Sareena

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:53 pm

Hi Sareena,

Since my partner didn't say anything, do I erase that from the scene? On my procedure, do I take out the part where he enters and says something?

-drago76

Sareena Avadhany · Post by **Sareena Avadhany** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:59 pm

drago,

Wait, did your partner say something but it just wasn't heard, or did your partner not say anything at all?

If he did say something, I don't think you should. It should be left as part of your procedure. In your conclusion note that absolutely no one heard what he was saying. Explain that because of this, you erased it from your survey.

If he didn't say something, leave it in your procedures, but talk about in your conclusion how he forgot. Remember, your procedure is formulated before you conduct your experiment. If something doesn't go right, you have to talk about it in your conclusion.

If you don't think this is the right way, then you should do what feel comfortable to you. This is your project!

Sincerely,
Sareena

Hope this helps,
Sareena

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 1:11 pm

Hi Sareena,

My partner did say something, but it was too low to be heard. I'll follow your advice on the conclusion. Today hopefully I'll get the pictures.. I had a teacher's aid help out and take pictures for me yesterday. Today I'm going to give the other half of the survey to the other class. I'm going to my partner's house today and we'll post if we have any more questions. (Might send one today when we get stuck) Oh yea, for my survey, I had the questions "what did he say?" but I told the people taking it to skip them. So I didn't really ERASE the questions from the survey.. it's still there I just told them to skip it. But I guess it's not a problem and I'll just do this.

If he did say something, I don't think you should. It should be left as part of your procedure. In your conclusion note that absolutely no one heard what he was saying. Explain that because of this, you erased it from your survey.

Thanks,
drago76

Sareena Avadhany · Post by **Sareena Avadhany** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 3:15 pm

If it works for you drago.

Sincerely,
Sareena

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:40 pm

Hi Sareena,

We kind of have a problem. We used a glue-gun and put on our title but it looks slanted. Is that ok? It's for the background of the title (Which you have a construction paper in back of the white paper with words.)

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:42 pm

Never Mind the previous post, we'll find our own solution to this slanted problem. If I have a problem with the data stuff, I'll tell you

-drago76

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:48 pm

HI Sareena,

I'm just here to tell you my results. Group 1 had 66% accuracy and Group 2 had 49.5% accuracy, so my hypothesis was correct

-drago76

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:57 pm

OH.. for the graphs.. do I just do the graph? What else can I add and what do I do with my 30 surveys? Can I add anything about my results or is that only for conclusion?

-drago76

Sareena Avadhany · Post by **Sareena Avadhany** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 10:13 pm

drago76,

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... ysis.shtml

Here is the link to learning how to do data analysis. It's not just about making graphs...but analyzing them. Raw data. What does it mean when group one has a percentage rate of 66% while group 2 had a percentage rate of 49.5%?

You can definitely construct more than one graph. That means that you are looking at your data in more than one way. Think about ALL the ways you can represent your data. ALL ways. Only then will you be able to narrow it down to what is sufficient. You might have 3 or 4 graphs explaining different aspects of your experimentation.

In order to really understand what I mean and what it is to make great graphs, look at the bottom of the page of the link I gave you.

Display your surveys along with your lab book as supplemental information. That reminds me, you do have a lab book, right?

Congratulations about your success! See, everything turns out well in the end...whether you prove your hypothesis or not.
Hope this helps,
Sareena

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:37 am

Sareena,

I don't have a lab book but I don't think my science fair needs it because of all the years at the SCHOOL science fair, I don't think they ask for it. I didn't even know what it is until I looked at science buddies. I plan to have my surveys stapled and put on the desk with my board.

-drago

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:36 am

Oh and what I mean by percentage is the scores. I found the average of each group's scores and Group 1 has 66% average score and Group 2 has 49% accuracy.

-drago76

Sareena Avadhany · Post by **Sareena Avadhany** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:23 pm

drago76,

If this is your school science fair, I wouldn't know. If it is a regional science fair, then you definitely need a lab book. I recall you posting in the "Science Fair Projects" Forum. The experts you are responding will do the best job in helping you out.

I don't exactly understand your last post about the percentage scores. Would you mind explaining more?

Sareena

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:14 pm

Sareena,

Ok, Group 1 has 15 surveys. Each survey is 8 points each and I gave points according to accuracy, one point per question. I found the percentage scores of all of Group 1's surveys and found the average one.

I did the same with Group 2.

I think question and hypothesis are seperate and is question required?
Oh and my title is "Testing the Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony"

Question:

Does time delay affect the accuracy of eyewitnesses?

Results:

Group 1, which had a shorter time delay, has a better average percentage score than Group 2, which had a longer time delay. Group 1's average percentage score is 66.6% and Group 2's average percentage score is 49.9%

The longer the time passes between the witnessing of a scene and the questioning of the eyewitness reduces the eyewitness' accuracy. (Does this go in conclusion or stays in result?)

Project's due tomorrow

-drago76

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:19 pm

Or should I change it to..

Results:

Group 1, which had a shorter time delay, has a better average percentage score than Group 2, which had a longer time delay. Group 1's average percentage score is 66.6% and Group 2's average percentage score is 49.9%

From what we know, we think that the longer the time passes between the witnessing of a scene and the questioning of the eyewitness reduces the eyewitness' accuracy.

Words in bold is what I changed. Is this one better than the one I posted above?

Conclusion coming soon when I finish it which I'll be working on right now.

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:27 pm

For my conclusion, I don't understand what you mean by further research and giving a question for further experimentation.

-drago

Sareena Avadhany · Post by **Sareena Avadhany** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:46 pm

drago76,

This sounds great so far!

You keep the "what we know" part in your results. That's what you conceived from your data.

Now for your conclusion:

1. Has your hypothesis been proven or not? Why?
2. What parts of the experiment would you like to change? Why?
3. What are some errors in your expeirment? Why?
4. What are factors in your experiment that you could not control? Why?
5. If you were to do this experiment again, what would you do different? Why? (this is practically the same as #2)
6. What would be a follow up experimentation are possible follow up questions after this science fair project?
------> This means that you have a question for "does time delay affect accuracy"...now what would another question be related to this experiment as more of an in depth project.

------->For example: Witnesses usually testify months after the incident. Does a months time delay produce more accuracy in an eye-witness testimony than does a two months time delay?

..................This is basically the same thing as your first experiment but over a longer period. There are tons of other questions though. Testing whether a person would accurately testify if they didn't have glasses (when they need it to see) during the scene of the crime. Or comparing accuracy of girls compared to boys or other things....TONS. Just list them and find what is most interesting to you and post it on your board.

Remember to make your board attractive!!!!!

Is this just a science fair or is it a science fair competition where judges are going to be evaluating you?

Sincerely,
Sareena

Sareena Avadhany · Post by **Sareena Avadhany** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:56 pm

Drago,

This will definitely help you on your conclusion:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... ions.shtml

And this will definitely help you on your board if you need it:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... oard.shtml

Sincerely,
Sareena

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:35 pm

Sareena,

My fair is both.. it's a science fair and a science fair competition. It's like over 50% of our science grade. The judges are the science teachers and they give out the awards. We have like 5 people first place, 10 people 2nd place, 15 3rd place, and like a WHOLE BUNCH with honorable mentions.

The judges just look at our boards and take notes. They don't talk to us and we don't have to answer their questions. It's been like this the last 3 years. Where do I put my bibliography?

Thanks,
drago76

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:37 pm

Oh and 1 GRAND PRIZE winner.

Haha I forgot.

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 4:34 pm

Hi Sareena,

Here's my Conclusion!!!!!!!!

Conclusion:

My hypothesis was that Group 1 would answer the survey more accurately than Group 2 because the time delay is shorter for them. My results support my hypothesis.
During the scene, we had many things go well. Alex did all the steps correctly. Also, we were able to give the survey to everyone in the class and get the results quickly. But, we made some errors, which was that he did the scenes pretty fast and also spoke kind of softly which made nobody hear it clearly. Because of this, we had to delete two questions off the survey that had to do with what he said (during the scene).
What we would like to change about the experiment is that instead of having an actor doing a scene, we could show a movie and survey them on that. From what we experienced and what we have found out, we could not control the ability for people to remember things or hear things really well. For example, It is hard acting in front of a classroom and trying to remember what youâ€™re supposed to do and say.

An interesting future experiment regarding this subject might be testing how well a person would accurately testify if they didnâ€™t have their glasses during the scene of a crime compared to the people that have good eyesight. (Sorry for taking the idea,

)

Please correct me if I did spelling error or grammer error and tell me if I wrote too much or left something out.

-drago76

Sareena Avadhany · Post by **Sareena Avadhany** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:10 pm

drago76,

Congratulations on your completion of your project.

Your bibliography goes at the end of your research.

Conclusion: your conclusion was well formulated. I know you can think of better examples than I gave you. Please try and do it yourself, I know you and DeathsAng3l (alex) would be able to. It's important not to copy other works.

My hypothesis was that Group 1 would answer the survey more accurately than Group 2 because the time delay is shorter for them. My results support my hypothesis.
During the scene, we had many things go well. Alex did all the steps correctly. Also, we were able to give the survey to everyone in the class and get the results quickly. But, we made some errors. ALEX PERFORMED the scene fastER THAN PLANNED and also spoke softly WHICH WAS HEARD BY NO ONE. Because of this, deleted two questions FROM the survey that had to do with what he said during the scene.
What we would like to change about the experiment is that instead of having an actor doing a scene, we could show a movie and survey them on that. WHY!! From what we experienced and what we have found out, we could not control the ability for people to remember things or hear things really well. For example, It is hard acting in front of a classroom and trying to remember what youâ€™re supposed to do and say. --> HOW IS THIS AN EXAMPLE OF CONTROLLING WHAT THE AUDIENCE CAN HEAR OR SEE?

An interesting future FOLLOW UP experiment
Testing how well a person would accurately testify if they didnâ€™t have PROPER EYE VISION during the scene of a crime compared to ONES that have good eyesight. (Sorry for taking the idea, Crying or Very sad ) I KNOW YOU CAN THINK UP OF MUCH BETTER FUTURE EXPERIMENTS. PLEASE TRY.

Hope this helps,
Sareena

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:22 pm

Sareena,

For example, It is hard acting in front of a classroom and trying to remember what youâ€™re supposed to do and say. --> HOW IS THIS AN EXAMPLE OF CONTROLLING WHAT THE AUDIENCE CAN HEAR OR SEE?

I don't know what example to do.. I'm going to glue my stuff on my board and this is all I need left. Can you proofread ASAP? Also, where does the bibliography go? After the research? You mean review of literature?

Thanks,
drago76

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:25 pm

Oh and it's on what I cannot control... I can't control how easy it is to go up on stage and remember everything??

-drago76

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:50 pm

Maybe...

For example, there were a few people walking around the classroom, blocking other people's views. Also, some people were not paying attention and were talking to their friends.

An interesting future experiment regarding this subject might be testing how well the elderly would accurately testify compared to younger children in elementary school.

Not better than yours, but I respect your help

Proofread again please...

Thanks,
drago76

Sareena Avadhany · Post by **Sareena Avadhany** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:04 pm

drago76,

What I meant by what you quoted was you were talking about how you cannot control certain aspects of your experiment.

"We could not control the ability for people to remember things or hear things really well. For example, it is hard acting in front of a classroom and trying to remember what you're supposed to do and say."

The first part you were referring to an eye-witness, and the second part you were talking about your partner alex, who was not an eyewitness. The reason I am correcting this is because you connected both sentences with "for example."

Controlling how the audience can hear or see is one thing, but controlling what your partner performs is another. So break these two ideas. That's what I meant.

"For example, there were a few people walking around the classroom, blocking other people's...." Excellent! You're really thinking now about your experiment. This is EXACTLY what you put in your conclusion.

An interesting future experiment: Excellent! That's a GREAT idea. Seeing how well elderly can testify compared to children. GREAT JOB!

I already proofread your conclusion. If you made changes to your conclusion, please post if you would like me to look over it again.

Hope this helps,
Sareena

drago76 · Post by **drago76** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:09 pm

Sareena,

Thanks. The only thing I changed was the parts that you told me to change. I've been waiting two hours for your reply so see if it was correct. I already put it on my board and you said it was good and that's a relief. I'll tell you how we do.

Thanks a bunch,
drago76