A comparison of Chinese judges' and US judges' knowledge and beliefs about eyewitness testimony |
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| Authors: | Richard A. Wise Xiaoling Gong Martin A. Safer Yueh-Ting Lee |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Psychology , University of North Dakota , Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA richard.wise@und.nodak.edu;3. Sichuan Provincial People's Court , Sichuan, China;4. Department of Psychology , The Catholic University of America , Washington, DC, USA;5. University of Toledo , Toledo, Ohio, USA |
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| Abstract: | Abstract We surveyed 170 Chinese judges about their knowledge and beliefs about eyewitness testimony, and compared their answers to a prior survey of 160 US judges. Although the Chinese judges were less knowledgeable than the US judges, both groups had limited knowledge of eyewitness testimony, including for such important issues as whether lay people can distinguish between accurate and inaccurate eyewitnesses. Unlike the US judges, greater knowledge of eyewitness factors for the Chinese judges was not related to beliefs that may be necessary to reduce eyewitness error. Compared to the US judges, the Chinese judges were much less likely to believe that they needed additional eyewitness training and that they knew more about eyewitness testimony than lay persons. We also discuss the impact of culture, legal systems, investigative procedures, and judges' function on the Chinese judges' responses, and the legal reforms that China may need to implement to reduce eyewitness error. |
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| Keywords: | China USA judges eyewitness testimony knowledge |
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