BRAIN QUIRKS AND COURTROOM TESTIMONY

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The Gruter Institute Working Papers on Law, Economics, and Evolutionary Biology

AUTHOR:
Michael McGuire

TITLE:
BRAIN QUIRKS AND COURTROOM TESTIMONY

SUGGESTED CITATION:
Michael McGuire (2004) "BRAIN QUIRKS AND COURTROOM TESTIMONY", The Gruter Institute Working Papers on Law, Economics, and Evolutionary Biology: Vol. 3: Article 3.
http://www.bepress.com/giwp/default/vol3/iss1/art3

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ABSTRACT:
Selected findings from the neurosciences addressing ways in which the brain processes information are reviewed from the perspective: “Do the findings inform our understanding of courtroom testimony by witnesses attempting to give accurate accounts of observed events?” Answers to the question include: accurate recall is possible but difficult and infrequent; built-in and learned (possibly?) information processing systems which disrupt memory and bias interpretations are responsible for this outcome; witnesses are seldom aware of disruptions unless they are experiencing difficulty remembering.