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Eyewitness Research

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Taking Psychology and Law into the Twenty-First Century

Part of the book series: Perspectives in Law & Psychology ((PILP,volume 14))

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Conclusion

Although it may seem a cliché, nothing succeeds like success. The prior successes of the eyewitness area produced a number of highly productive research programs. Those programs generated a literature that is now widely read within psychology and increasingly relied on by those in the criminal justice system. Student interest in the area is high, which leads to graduate applications and new generations of researchers who, instead of having to be convinced to change their research interests to include eyewitness issues, were trained in the area to start. Eyewitness researchers have achieved tremendous success in advancing knowledge of eyewitnesses and making their theory and research findings available to the legal system. Yet, the area remains ripe with avenues for investigation.

“I remember really feeling confident that was the man⋯I was just positive he did it”—Jennifer Thompson, after learning that the man she identified as her attacker was innocent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 3N6

    R. C. L. Lindsay

  2. Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 32306

    John C. Brigham

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, V8W 3P5

    C. A. Elizabeth Brimacombe

  4. Psychology Department, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 50011

    Gary L. Wells

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  1. R. C. L. Lindsay
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  3. C. A. Elizabeth Brimacombe
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  4. Gary L. Wells
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Lindsay, R.C.L., Brigham, J.C., Elizabeth Brimacombe, C.A., Wells, G.L. (2004). Eyewitness Research. In: Taking Psychology and Law into the Twenty-First Century. Perspectives in Law & Psychology, vol 14. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47944-3_7

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