Juror knowledge of eyewitness behavior: Evidence for the necessity of expert testimony

Research dealing with eyewitness testimony and related factors has been goi ng on for decades. To this date there is still some debate as to the accura cy of eyewitness memory and exactly how much we know about the topic. The f irst purpose of this study was to assess prospective jurors' knowledge of t he factors that may influence eyewitness behavior. Secondly, it compared st udents' and more typical prospective jurors' knowledge of eyewitness identi fication factors in order to explore further the validity of using students injury decision making research. Two hundred-seven participants responded to statements concerning eyewitness identification information. In general, participants understood the concepts of reasonable doubt and burden of pro of better than they understood the factors that affect reliability of eyewi tness testimony. When we compared students to more typical prospective juro rs, the knowledge of students currently enrolled in an Introductory Psychol ogy course was found to be more in line with the results of published resea rch on issues of eyewitness identification.