On the Witness Stand : Controversies in the Courtroom

Trial evidence can only be introduced through exhibits or the testimony of witnesses, and psychologists and other social scientists have now begun to empirically evaluate questions such as: What is the impact of the testimony of eyewitnesses in the court decisions?

Should hypnosis be used with crime witnesses? Is the polygraph an accurate device to determine the guilt or innocence of a suspect?

This book contains articles reprinted from psychological journals relevant to the above questions.

The five sections deal with different aspects of witnesses' testimony, and each contain three reprinted articles, plus an introduction and summary written by the volume editors to place the articles in context and provide conclusions and recommendations.