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Of the five criteria set by the courts for the reliability test, which one do you believe to be the weakest? Why?
The reliability criteria that have been developed as the science of eyewitness information advanced include the following: View, attention, certainty, descriptions, and time between crime and confrontation (Wells & Quinlivan, 2009). Of the five reliability criteria, three -- view, attention, and certainty -- are attributes of retrospective self-reports. Certainty is the criteria that I believe is the weakest since the literature is replete with studied that show how fallible the certainty of an eyewitness's testimony can be. Strong empirical evidence exists to show that retrospective self-reports frequently do not match the presentation of objective facts (Wells & Quinlivan, 2009). Retrospective self-reports have been shown to be quite malleable and people are not skilled at identifying which factors influence their self-reports (Nisbett and Wilson, 1977). Several of the reliability criteria are not independent of one another...
Moreover, the suggestiveness augmentation effect presents a serious and substantive threat to the reliability of the two-prong totality approach that guides Manson concern (Wells & Quinlivan, 2009). Notably, a disincentive is created for prosecutors or police to avoid suggestive procedures, and there is relation between the suggestive procedures, the skew of the resulting retrospective self-reports, and the placement of the witness on the criteria -- all of which results in dismissal of the suggestiveness concern (Wells & Quinlivan, 2009).
References:
Nisbett, R.E. And Wilson, T.D. (1977). Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes. Psychological Review, 84, 231-259.
Wells, G.L. And Quinlivan, D.S. (2009). Suggestive eyewitness identification procedures and the Supreme Court's reliability test in light of eyewitness science: 30 years later. Law and Human Behavior, 33, 1-24. doi: 10.1007/s10979-008-9130-3
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