A blind man’s bluff: choice blindness in eyewitness testimony

Research output: ThesisDoctoral ThesisInternal

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Abstract

According to an effect termed choice blindness (for a demonstration see http://bit.ly/1idqDg0) people have difficulty in detecting changes in the outcome of their own choices. In this dissertation we investigated whether eyewitnesses would notice if they were presented with a different person than the one they originally identified, or if details in their statements were altered. The findings indicate that a large proportion of eyewitnesses fail to detect mistakes and changes in their identification decisions and witness statements. Clearly, mistaken or deliberate alterations of even minor details can impede the accurate reconstruction of an event and possibly incriminate innocent suspects.
Original languageEnglish
QualificationDoctor of Philosophy
Awarding Institution
  • Maastricht University
Supervisors/Advisors
  • Merckelbach, Harald, Supervisor
  • Sauerland, Melanie, Co-Supervisor
Award date17 Sept 2015
Place of PublicationMaastricht
Publisher
Print ISBNs9789462991699
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Keywords

  • eyewitness testimony
  • choice blindness

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