Used with permission
Many of us will be a witness to a violent crime at least once in our lifetime. The police will require us to give a statement describing the event in detail. But recalling it won’t be easy because our memory plays tricks on us. Eyewitness statements can’t always be relied on.
Eyewitness is an audacious and groundbreaking three part series, made by the BBC in collaboration with Greater Manchester Police. The programmes explore the fallibility of human memory in witness testimony, by creating eyewitnesses and looking at real life cases crucial to the eyewitness story, as well as looking behind the scenes of the series and finding out more about the experts and their work.
Misidentification: can you identify the criminal?
The Open University
Professor Graham Pike from the Open University guides us through the eyewitness experience by viewing a crime and identity parade. Read more : Misidentification: can you identify the criminal?
Identifying faces
Production team
Using an E-FIT facial composite system the Open University has created some celebrity images. Look at the images and see if you can tell who... Read more : Identifying faces
Becky Milne explains the cognitive interview
The Open University
Dr Becky Milne, Principal Lecturer at the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Portsmouth, explains the technique of cognitive interviewing. Read more : Becky Milne explains the cognitive interview
Identification evidence
Production team
Dr Graham Pike, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, reveals how different lines of questioning and varying levels of stress can effect people's ability to remember events... Read more : Identification evidence
The mind of a witness
The Open University
Johanna Motzkau, lecturer in Forensic Psychology at The Open University talks about factors that influence how we remember and looks into the mind of a... Read more : The mind of a witness
Visual identification: Photo credit card study
Katarzyna Zwolska via Dreamstime.com under Limited Royalty Free Licenses (RF-LL)
Dr Nicola Brace, Senior Lecturer in Psychology talks us through the challenges eyewitnesses’ face when remembering unfamiliar people. Read more : Visual identification: Photo credit card study
Bystander intervention
Jupiter Images
Dr Jovan Byford, Lecturer in Psychology at the Open University guides us through bystander intervention and the factors that affect our behaviour during unusual situations. Read more : Bystander intervention
Why don't people intervene?
The Open University
Dr Jovan Byford, Lecturer in Psychology at The Open Univeristy, offers an explanation of why, sometimes, people don't intervene when they see bad things happening. Read more : Why don't people intervene?
The ethics of Eyewitness
Production team
Dr Graham Pike, one of the contributors of the Eyewitness programmes talks us through the planning and ethical considerations that went into the production. Read more : The ethics of Eyewitness
Martin Conway: Flashbulb memory
The Open University
Professor Martin Conway, Professor of Cognitive Psychology at The University of Leeds talks us through flashbulb memory. Read more : Martin Conway: Flashbulb memory
Changing Faces
The Open University
Cognitive psychologist Graham Pike contributed to the development of EFIT-V, a tool now being used to produce images of criminal suspects at very short notice... Read more : Changing Faces
Professor Elizabeth Loftus on distorted memory
Jupiter Images
Can our mind really play tricks on us? Leading Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus explains distorted memory. Read more : Professor Elizabeth Loftus on distorted memory
First broadcast: Sunday 18 Apr 2010 on BBC TWO; you can see Eyewitness again on BBC Four, Sunday 3rd April, 2011 at 11.00pm.
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