The confidence of a witness reporting his memory for the witnessed event is __________.
A) a very good indicator of the accuracy of his memory
B) a good indicator of the accuracy of his memory, but should not be trusted because the witness may be lying
C) a very poor indicator of the accuracy of his memory
D) hardly ever taken into account by a jury

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Research has shown that confidence is a very poor indicator of the accuracy of a witness's memory. Witnesses can be confidently wrong and confidently right, and their confidence level can be influenced by a variety of factors such as the wording of the questions they are asked and feedback they receive from others. Therefore, it is important for juries and investigators to rely on other evidence to corroborate witness testimony instead of relying solely on their confidence level.

The Confidence of a Witness Reporting His Memory for the Witnessed