Memory Characteristics of Elderly Eyewitnesses

9515231 Bartlett由于老年人不成比例地成为某些犯罪的受害者，法律体系将不得不越来越多地依赖老年证人。迄今为止，关于老年人在这一角色中的表现的研究很少，现有的研究也没有得出多少确凿的结论。本研究的目的是系统地考察老年人作为证人的表现。它将(1)调查老年人可能表现不佳和表现良好的条件；(2)测试法律体系内的规则和程序，这些规则和程序可能被操纵，以提高从老年证人那里获得的信息的质量；(3)评估心理测量方法在区分准确证人和不准确证人方面的效用；(4)探索利用老年人相对未受损的“内隐记忆”来评估他们记忆的准确性或获取额外信息的潜力。涉及模拟犯罪和其他事件的实验将用于比较年轻和老年受试者的表现，以回答有关年龄差异的基本问题。研究表明，陪审员、律师和法律体系内的其他人倾向于认为，老年证人在准确作证方面存在困难。我们的目标是获得可靠的信息，说明在处理作为犯罪证人的老年人时，如果有的话，应该考虑什么。%%%%由于老年人不成比例地成为某些犯罪的受害者，法律体系将不得不越来越多地依赖老年证人。迄今为止，关于老年人在这一角色中的表现的研究很少，现有的研究也没有得出多少确凿的结论。本研究的目的是系统地考察老年人作为证人的表现。它将(1)调查老年人可能表现不佳和表现良好的条件；(2)测试法律体系内的规则和程序，这些规则和程序可能被操纵以提高从老年证人那里获得的信息的质量；(3)评估心理测量方法在区分准确证人和不准确证人方面的效用；(4)探索利用老年人相对未受损的“内隐记忆”来评估他们记忆的准确性或获取额外信息的潜力。涉及模拟犯罪和其他事件的实验将用于比较年轻和老年受试者的表现，以回答有关年龄差异的基本问题。研究表明，陪审员、律师和法律体系内的其他人倾向于认为，老年证人在准确作证方面存在困难。我们的目标是获得可靠的信息，说明在处理作为犯罪证人的老年人时，如果有的话，应该考虑什么。＊＊＊＊

9515231 Bartlett As the elderly are disproportionately likely to be the victims of certain crimes, the legal system will have to rely more and more on elderly witnesses. There has as yet been little research with respect to the performance of the elderly in this role, and existing research has yielded few solid conclusions. The objective of this research is to examine systematically the performance of the elderly as witnesses. It will (1) investigate the conditions under which the elderly are likely to perform poorly and well; (2) test the rules and procedures within the legal system that may be manipulated to enhance the quality of information obtained from elderly witnesses, (3) evaluate the utility of psychometric measures for distinguishing accurate from inaccurate witnesses, and (4) explore the potential for using the relatively unimpaired "implicit memory" of the elderly to assess the accuracy of their memories or to elicit additional information. Experiments involving simulated crimes and other events will be used to compare the performance of young and elderly subjects in order to answer basic questions about age differences. Research has documented that jurors, attorneys, and others within the legal system tend to assume that the elderly witnesses have difficulty in performing accurately. Our goal is to obtain solid information as to what, if anything, should be considered when dealing with seniors who are witnesses to crimes. %%%% As the elderly are disproportionately likely to be the victims of certain crimes, the legal system will have to rely more and more on elderly witnesses. There has as yet been little research with respect to the performance of the elderly in this role, and existing research has yielded few solid conclusions. The objective of this research is to examine systematically the performance of the elderly as witnesses. It will (1) investigate the conditions under which the elderly are likely to perform poorly and well; (2) test the rules and procedures within th e legal system that may be manipulated to enhance the quality of information obtained from elderly witnesses, (3) evaluate the utility of psychometric measures for distinguishing accurate from inaccurate witnesses, and (4) explore the potential for using the relatively unimpaired "implicit memory" of the elderly to assess the accuracy of their memories or to elicit additional information. Experiments involving simulated crimes and other events will be used to compare the performance of young and elderly subjects in order to answer basic questions about age differences. Research has documented that jurors, attorneys, and others within the legal system tend to assume that the elderly witnesses have difficulty in performing accurately. Our goal is to obtain solid information as to what, if anything, should be considered when dealing with seniors who are witnesses to crimes. ****