For example they may be required to give a description at a trial of a robbery or a road accident someone has seen. This includes identification of perpetrators, details of the crime scene etc. Eyewitness testimony is an important area of research in cognitive psychology and human memory.

Do the Loftus studies support the use of eyewitness testimony as a part of a criminal defense or prosecution? Loftus says that the verbiage used in the question influenced the response therefore Loftus dosn’t fully support eye witness testimony because “memory is malleable”.

Yes, The Loftus studies support the use of eyewitness testimony as evidence in court proceedings.

In addition to correctly remembering many details of the crimes they witness, eyewitnesses often need to remember the faces and other identifying features of the perpetrators of those crimes.

Eyewitness testimony can have parts that are made up by the witness due to nervousness or fear. Pressure can also affect a person’s memory. Some people feel pressured when they everyone else in the room is counting on them. This might lead them into saying something that is wrong or inaccurate.

Eyewitness testimony — it’s often thought of as solid evidence in criminal cases, but researchers including Iowa State University’s Gary Wells have found that our memories aren’t as reliable as we think. Sometimes, we can even build false recollections about people we only think we saw.

: one who sees an occurrence or an object especially : one who gives a report on what he or she has seen.

adjective. of late occurrence, appearance, or origin; lately happening, done, made, etc.: recent events; a recent trip. not long past: in recent years. of or belonging to a time not long past.

chaired, chair·ing, chairs. 1. To preside over as chairperson: chair a meeting. 2. To install (someone) in a position of authority, especially as a presiding officer.

noun. a person who actually sees some act, occurrence, or thing and can give a firsthand account of it: There were two eyewitnesses to the murder.

Some guidelines: If you want to write the entire story in individual, quirky language, choose first person. If you want your POV character to indulge in lengthy ruminations, choose first person. If you want your reader to feel high identification with your POV character, choose first person or close third.

[om-nish-ĕnt] An ‘all-knowing’ kind of narrator very commonly found in works of fiction written as third-person narratives. The omniscient narrator has a full knowledge of the story’s events and of the motives and unspoken thoughts of the various characters.

Signals of unreliable narration

1. Intratextual signs such as the narrator contradicting himself, having gaps in memory, or lying to other characters.
2. Extratextual signs such as contradicting the reader’s general world knowledge or impossibilities (within the parameters of logic)
3. Reader’s literary competence.