A name alone can distort eyewitnesses’ recall of an incident’s violence

Evidence

We know from Levinson (2007) that, when distracted for fifteen minutes and asked to recall details of an incident, participants who read about William’s actions (instead of Tyrone’s actions) recalled fewer aggressive details about the incident. Such selective memory would again lead to differing details in police accounts and witness testimony. — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1381 (#expands, via linked claim)

Bias may be at play in the details of crimes provided to police and prosecutors. We know from Levinson (2007) that, when distracted for fifteen minutes and asked to recall details of an incident, participants who read about William’s actions (instead of Tyrone’s actions) recalled fewer aggressive details about the incident. Such selective memory would again lead to differing details in police accounts and witness testimony. — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1381 (#expands, via linked claim)

In these two studies we sought to achieve a better understanding of group-based guilt in the context of an ongoing violent conflict. Study 1 was conducted during two phases of the Israeli– Palestinian conflict: a period of relative calm and a period of violent escalation. For both these times we examined reactions to information indicating that the in-group had harmed members of another group, enabling us to explore the effects of intensification of the conflict. In both periods participants expressed moral condemnation of the in-group’s past wrongdoings. The intensity of the conflict, however, had a clear effect: Endorsement of cognitions exonerating the in-group was higher and group-based guilt was lower in the sample examined during the escalation of the conflict. … The current results extend these findings by showing that escalation of a conflict also moves group members away from acknowledging their group’s wrongdoings in the past. — Sonia Roccas and Yechiel Klar and Ido Liviatan, The Paradox of Group-Based Guilt, 130 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Racial name cues cause witnesses to recall fewer aggressive details from memory — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 1381; A name alone can trigger false memories of aggression — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 1365; Memory of a crime’s details varies based on the suspect’s name — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 1381 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Racial name cues cause witnesses to recall fewer aggressive details from memory #expands (0.95) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1381
• Memory of a crime’s details varies based on the suspect’s name #expands (0.93) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1381
• Escalating conflict reduces in-group acknowledgment of past wrongdoings #complicates (0.72) — Sonia Roccas and Yechiel Klar and Ido Liviatan, The Paradox of Group-Based Guilt, 130