Page 68 - Forensic News Journal Jan Feb 2018

Forensic News Journal
The Validity of Eyewitness Accounts - What You See is What You Think!, pg 68-72-
©2014-2018 SYT Global, Inc.

ThE VAlIdITy OF EyEwITNEss

ACCOuNTs - whAT yOu sEE Is

whAT yOu ThINk!

By Tim Brunson
As a forensic hypnotist, judge the physical dimen-
Eyewitness testimony is sions of objects in relation

far from being full-proof. one of the first things that to surroundings. For
Despite the assumption I must ask a witness or

that witnesses under oath victim is the condition of instance, the designers of
are honest, sincere, and their vision (i.e., farsight- Walt Disney World in Or-
credible and that they edness, nearsightedness, lando, used this concept to

claim that their memories colorblindness) or whether give the castle the appear-
are clear and accurate, that are taking medication. ance of being taller than

there may be sufficient I must also ask them about it is. (The City of Orlando
discrepancies. Witnesses visual conditions such as requires all buildings over
may remember accurately, light and darkness, fog or 250 feet to have flash-

but misremember what smoke, etc. ing red lights. To Disney
they originally perceived. designers, this was unac-

Another set of factors ceptable. So they built the
Any two witnesses to the involve the fact that wit- castle just shy of the limit
same event will undoubt- nesses often do not see and used comparative illu-

edly and unfailingly ob- what they thought that sions to make it appear to
serve it differently. What they see. This issue of be taller.)

is subjectively true to a visual attentiveness is a
witness may be objec- factor that magicians use Witnesses also misjudge
tively false due to faulty to create illusions due to the speed of a moving

or defective perception. misdirected attention. Wit- object based upon the dis-
Perception is not a fixed nesses are not immune to tance from the observer.

or static ability that all this problem.
people have to the same These factors call into
degree. It is highly vari- Speaking of illusions, wit- question the accuracy of a

able and fluid. nesses generally tend to witness’s perception. This

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