Problem
He told of a study from the 1960s where cadets were put into a situation where they were taught about the proper procedures in case of a need for an emergency landing in the water. Some of the students took a test on these procedures in a classroom. Others went up into an airplane. At some point the pilot killed the engine and told them there was engine failure and that they needed to prepare for an emergency landing. They were also told that they needed to complete the emergency landing test (that others took in the classroom) because, if something happened to them, this form was necessary for the insurance company to replace their belongings and/or give any payouts. Those in the airplane did horribly, generally, and in comparison to those in the classroom.
He used this example to illustrate the effects of stress on eyewitness memory. Consider both these lessons and Lesson 6 where we talked about individual matters of eyewitness memory.
For your Initial Post:
Make a thoughtful analysis of his testimony. Do you think the example supports research findings? More importantly, how do you feel about this example being used in a criminal trial involving eyewitness memory (i.e., was it appropriate or was it inappropriate)? Explain your answer. There are ways to support either position.