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The semantic structure of accuracy in eyewitness testimony
Philip U Gustafsson1, Sverker Sikström2, Torun Lindholm1
1Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Frontiers in Psychology
|April 25, 2024
Summary
Eyewitness testimony statements differ in semantic content. Correct statements relate to dominance, while incorrect statements involve communion and abstractness, impacting legal accuracy assessments.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Forensic Science
- Linguistics
Background:
- Eyewitness testimony is crucial in legal proceedings.
- Fact-finders often struggle to accurately assess witness statement veracity.
- Semantic content differences in testimony remain underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate semantic content differences between correct and incorrect eyewitness statements.
- To determine if distinct semantic representations correlate with statement accuracy.
Main Methods:
- Two studies analyzed eyewitness statements from staged crime films.
- Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) and BERT models were used for semantic representation analysis.
- Statements were categorized as correct or incorrect based on crime film details.
Main Results:
- Study 1: Correct statements showed semantic links to dominance; incorrect statements linked to communion.
- Study 2: Partially replicated findings; mega-analysis confirmed distinct semantic representations.
- Incorrect statements were associated with communion and abstractness.
Conclusions:
- Semantic content analysis can differentiate correct from incorrect eyewitness statements.
- Findings suggest potential linguistic markers for testimony accuracy.
- Further research is needed to leverage semantic analysis in legal contexts.
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