Refugee status determinations and the limits of memory

International Journal of Refugee Law

Volumn 22, Issue 4, 2010, Pages 469-511

  Cameron, Hilary Evans ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

BIOGRAPHY; DECISION MAKING; MEMORY; PSYCHOLOGY; REFUGEE;

EID: 78149402919     PISSN: 09538186     EISSN: 14643715     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/eeq041     Document Type: Article

References (520)

1. Sheikh v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2000] FCJ No. 568 at para. 28 (Federal Court of Canada).
2. R. N. Haber & L. Haber, 'Experiencing, remembering and reporting events' (2000) 6 Psychology, Public Policy and Law 1057-97 at 1057.
3. Although this is a vast topic beyond the scope of this article, it is worth noting that the gaps and changes described below, and characteristic of memory in general, will typically be amplified when psychologically vulnerable people remember and relate upsetting experiences, especially under stressful circumstances.
4. For a review, see, J. Herlihy & S. W. Turner, 'The Psychology of Seeking Protection' (2009) 21 IJRL 171-92.
5. J. Cohen, 'Errors of recall and credibility: Can omissions and discrepancies in successive statements reasonably be said to undermine credibility of testimony' (2001) 69 Medico-Legal Journal 25-34.
6. Psychologists theorize that we reconstruct our memories each time we bring them to mind: 'Recent memory theory suggests that memories are not stored units of information, as we used to think, but that the recall of events and information is a process of reconstruction'
7. Herlihy 2009, above n. 3, 179.
8. C. D. B. Burt, 'Time, language, and autobiographical memory' (2008) 58 Language Learning 123-41 at 123 (Burt, Time).
9. For a review, see, W. J. Friedman, 'Memory for the time of past events' (1993) 113 Psychological Bulletin 44-66.
10. G. Cohen & R. Java, 'Memory for medical history: Accuracy of recall' (1995) 9 Applied Cognitive Psychology 273-88 at 274.
11. J. J. Skowronski & C. P. Thompson, 'Reconstructing the dates of personal events: Gender differences in accuracy' (1990) 4 Applied Cognitive Psychology 371-81.
12. N. R. Brown, L. J. Rips & S. K. Shevell, 'The subjective dates of natural events in very-long-term memory' (1985) 17 Cognitive Psychology 139-77 at 172.
13. For a review, see, A. L. Betz & J. J. Skowronski, 'Self-events and other-events: Temporal dating and event memory' (1997) 25 Memory & Cognition 701-14.
14. Burt, Time 2008, above n. 5, 129.
15. Skowronski 1990, above n. 6, 377.
16. S. M. J. Janssen, A. G. Chessa & J. M. J. Murre, 'Memory for time: How people date events' (2006) 34 Memory and Cognition 138-47.
17. Betz 1997, above n. 8.
18. S. F. Larsen & C. P. Thompson, 'Reconstructive memory in the dating of personal and public news events' (1995) 23 Memory & Cognition 780-90.
19. C. P. Thompson, 'Memory for unique personal events: The roommate study' (1982) 10 Memory & Cognition 324-32 at 324.
20. see also, M. S. Shum, 'The role of temporal landmarks in autobiographical memory processes' (2000) 124 Psychological Bulletin 423-42 at 435.
21. Cohen 1995, above n. 6.
22. Burt, Time 2008, above n. 5, 129.
23. W. A. Wagenaar, 'My memory: A study of autobiographical memory over six years' (1986) 18 Cognitive Psychology 225-52.
24. M. Linton, 'Memory for real-world events' in D. A. Norman & D. E. Rumelhart (eds.), Explorations in cognition (San Francisco: 1975), 376-404 in Burt, Time 2008, above n. 5.
25. C. R. Barclay & H. M. Wellman, 'Accuracies and inaccuracies in autobiographical memories' (1986) 25 Journal of Memory and Language 93-103 at 100.
26. C. P. Thompson, J. J. Skowronski & D. J. Lee, 'Telescoping in dating naturally occurring events' (1988) 16 Memory & Cognition 461-8.
27. Cohen 1995, above n. 6, 284.
28. W. J. Friedman, 'Time in autobiographical memory' (2004) 22 Social Cognition 591-605.
29. Betz 1997, above n. 8, 711.
30. Brown 1985, above n. 7.
31. B. Means & E. F. Loftus, 'When personal history repeats itself: Decomposing memories for recurring events' (1991) 5 Applied Cognitive Psychology 297-318.
32. E. F. Loftus, M. R. Klinger, K. D. Smith & J. Fiedler, 'A tale of two questions: Benefits of asking more than one question' (1990) 54 Public Opinion Quarterly 330-45 at 339-40.
33. One team of researchers commenting upon this study suggests that these errors are likely caused by 'the overestimation of the frequency of events occurring during a given time period', as discussed in the next section, rather than by 'errors in the estimated date of the occurrence for specific events': Thompson 1988, above n. 14, 461.
34. Regardless, the result is the same: the subjects' date estimates were significantly inaccurate
35. Brown 1985, above n. 7, 139.
36. S. Bluck, L. J. Levine & T. M. Laulhere, 'Autobiographical remembering and hypermnesia: A comparison of older and younger adults' (1999) 14 Psychology and Aging 671-82.
37. One study that, in contrast, concluded that its subjects were 'very accurate' in dating past news events, counted responses as 'correct' if the subjects could date a news event that had occurred within the last nine months to within one month
38. W. J. Friedman & J. Huttenlocher, 'Memory for the time of "60 Minutes" stories and news events' (1997) 23 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 560-9.
39. Qian v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2007] FCJ No. 1282.
40. The cases cited throughout this article provide representative examples of the IRB's reasoning about various aspects of memory
41. In some, the point at issue was solely determinative of the claim (as in Zavalat, below n. 27, at para. 63, where the Court noted that the Board's decision was 'an inverted pyramid. In the end, everything can be traced back to one discrepancy in dates'). More often, the point emphasized here was one of several factors that the Board relied on in rejecting the claim.
42. Regardless of how these findings weighed in the final decision, in light of the evidence presented in this article they simply have no place in a refugee status determination
43. Charles v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2004] FCJ No. 2131 at para. 9.
44. Friedman 1993, above n. 5, 54.
45. Friedman 2004, above n.14, 597.
46. Etemadifard v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [1995] FCJ No. 666.
47. Ojo v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [1997] FCJ No. 1006.
48. Samseen v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2006] FCJ No. 727.
49. Zavalat v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2009] FCJ No. 1639.
50. Akter v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2006] FCJ No. 1517.
51. Kadder v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2005] FCJ No. 1047.
52. Angandeh v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2002] FCJ No. 1345.
53. M. C. Hansen, 'January 1986 Northeastern Ohio Earthquake' (Summer 1986) Ohio Geology Newsletter 2-5.
54. W. J. Friedman, 'A follow-up to "Scale effects in memory for the time of events": The earthquake study' (1987) 15 Memory & Cognition 518-20.
55. W. A. Wagenaar & J. Groeneweg, 'The memory of concentration camp survivors' (1990) 4 Applied Cognitive Psychology 77-87 at 81.
56. This was admittedly a distant memory for these subjects, but a life-altering one, and the researchers noted that for other types of details their memories were often 'remarkably accurate', 84
57. J. C. Yuille & J. L Cutshall, 'A case study of eyewitness memory of a crime' (1986) 71 Journal of Applied Psychology 291-301.
58. see also, S.-A. Christianson & B. Hübinette, 'Hands up! A study of witnesses' emotional reactions and memories associated with bank robberies' (1993) 7 Applied Cognitive Psychology 365-79.
59. There is some evidence to suggest, in fact, that our ability to date personal events is worse for negative events than for positive ones, a 'positivity bias' that has been termed the 'Pollyanna principle': Betz 1997, above n. 8, 703.
60. Wagenaar 1986, above n. 13.
61. H. L. Williams, M. A. Conway & G. Cohen, 'Autobiographical memory' in G. Cohen & M. A. Conway (eds.), Memory in the real world (New York: 2008), 21-90 at 41.
62. Thompson 1988, above n. 14, 461.
63. J. Garofalo & M. J. Hindelang, 'An introduction to the National Crime Survey' (1977) US Department of Justice, Washington DC
64. E. F. Loftus & W. Marburger, 'Since the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, has anyone beaten you up? Improving the accuracy of retrospective reports with landmark events' (1983) 11 Memory & Cognition 114-20 at 115.
65. See, e.g.: Baker v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2002] FCJ No. 1200.
66. Adegbola v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2007] FCJ No. 693.
67. Omrane v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2003] FCJ No. 405.
68. Kidimbu v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [1995] FCJ No. 50.
69. Udeagbala v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2003] FCJ No. 1906.
70. Kaur v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2005] FCJ No. 2112 at para. 11.
71. D. B. Wright & E. F. Loftus, 'Eyewitness memory'.
72. Cohen 2008, above n. 33, 91-105 at 98.
73. J. R. Sehulster, 'Content and temporal structure of autobiographical knowledge: Remembering twenty-five seasons at the Metropolitan Opera' (1989) 17 Memory & Cognition 590-606 at 605.
74. Friedman 1993, above n. 5, 60.
75. N. M. Bradburn, L. J. Rips, S. K. Shevell, 'Answering autobiographical questions: The impact of memory and inference on surveys' (1987) 236 Science, New Series 157-61 at 159.
76. R. F. Belli, 'The structure of autobiographical memory and the event history calendar: Potential improvements in the quality of retrospective reports in surveys' (1998) 6 Memory 383-406 at 384; for a review.
77. see, Means 1991, above n. 17.
78. D. Bruce & M. van Pelt, 'Memories of a bicycle tour' (1989) 3 Applied Cognitive Psychology 137-56.
79. A. Tversky & D. Kahneman, 'Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases' (1974) 185 Science, New Series 1124-31 at 1127.
80. see also, Brown 1985, above n. 7, 142.
81. Cohen 1995, above n. 6, 274.
82. M. Johnson & C. L. Raye, 'Reality monitoring' (1981) 88 Psychological Review 67-85.
83. Cohen 1995, above n. 6.
84. S. Burton & E. Blair, 'Task conditions, response formulations processes, and response accuracy for behavioral frequency questions in surveys' (1991) 55 The Public Opinion Quarterly 50-79 at 76.
85. see also, Cohen 1995, above n. 6, 274.
86. J. B. Jobe & D. J. Mingay, 'Cognition and survey measurement: History and overview' (1991) 5 Applied Cognitive Psychology 175-92 at 179-80.
87. S. Sudman, 'On the accuracy of recording of consumer panels' (1962) 1 Journal of Marketing Research 69-83.
88. S. Sudman, A. Finn & L. Lannom, 'The use of bounded recall procedures in single interviews' (1984) 48 Public Opinion Quarterly 520-4 at 522.
89. Cohen 1995, above n. 6, 281.
90. Morales v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2006] FCJ No. 609 at paras. 2, 4.
91. Joseph v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2000] FCJ No. 49 at para. 18.
92. Garande v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2006] FCJ No. 1735 at paras. 49-50.
93. Bradburn 1987, above n. 46, 161.
94. Burt, Time 2008, above n. 5, 135.
95. Wright 2008, above n. 43, 97.
96. C. D. B. Burt, 'Reconstruction of the duration of autobiographical events' (1992) 20 Memory & Cognition 124-32.
97. C. D. B. Burt & S. Kemp, 'Retrospective duration estimation of public events' (1991) 19 Memory & Cognition 252-62.
98. J. W. B. Douglas & J. T. Blomfield, 'The reliability of longitudinal surveys' (1956) 34 The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 227-52 at 245.
99. see also, Burt 1991
100. M. K. Pyles, H. R. Stolz & J. W. Macfarlane, 'The accuracy of mothers' reports on birth and developmental data' (1935) 6 Child Development 165-76
101. S. A. Mednick & J. B. P. Shaffer, 'Mothers' retrospective reports in child-rearing research' (1963) 33 American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 457-61
102. A. L. Schneider, W. R. Griffith, D. H. Sumi & J. M. Burcart, 'Portland forward records check of crime victims' (1978) US Department of Justice, Washington DC.
103. E. F. Loftus, J. W. Schooler, S. M. Boone & D. Kline, 'Time went by so slowly: Overestimation of event duration by males and females' (1987) 1 Applied Cognitive Psychology 3-13 at 12 (Loftus, Time).
104. C. D. B. Burt & J. Popple, 'Effects of Implied Action Speed on Estimation of Event Duration' (1996) 10 Applied Cognitive Psychology 53-63.
105. Cohen 1995, above n. 6, 282.
106. A. C. I. Pedersen & D. B. Wright, 'Do differences in event descriptions cause differences in duration estimates?' (2002) 16 Applied Cognitive Psychology 769-83 at 773.
107. V. Prohaksa, 'Reporting the dates of events: The role of prior knowledge' (1996) 4 Memory 325-36
108. Loftus, Time 1987, above n. 64, 3.
109. Wright 2008, above n. 43, 98.
110. Burt, Time 2008, above n. 5, 137 (emphasis added).
111. After witnessing a staged incident in a university lecture, e.g., students were asked '"How long did it take the person to [] through the lecture theatre", with either "walk", "run" or "pass" being used to complete the question'.
112. The students' estimates 'paralleled the action speed implied by the question verb: the "walk" condition produced the largest duration estimates and the "run" condition the smallest': Burt 1996, above n. 65, 56.
113. see also, Prohaksa 1996, above n. 67.
114. Burt 1992, above n. 60.R
115. Wright 2008, above n. 43, 99.
116. Alfonso v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2007] FCJ No. 72 at para. 38.
117. Brown 1985, above n. 7, 150.
118. see also, Bruce 1989, above n. 47, 153.
119. C. D. B. Burt, S. Kemp, J. M. Grady & M. Conway, 'Ordering autobiographical experiences' (2000) 8 Memory 323-32.
120. C. D. B. Burt, S. Kemp & M. Conway, 'Ordering the components of autobiographical events' (2008) 127 Acta Psychologica 36-45 (Burt, Ordering).
121. Other studies suggest that our ability to order events will likely be even worse when these events are unrelated; Friedman 2004, above n.14, 595, 597.
122. Burt, Time 2008, above n. 5, 130.
123. Burt 2000, above n. 74, 330.
124. Burt, Ordering 2008, above n. 75, 43.
125. J. J. Skowronski, W. R. Walker & A. L. Betz, 'Ordering our world: An examination of time in autobiographical memory' (2003) 11 Memory 247-60 at 257; for a review.
126. see, Friedman 1993, above n. 5.
127. R. S. Nickerson & M. J. Adams, 'Long-term memory for a common object' (1979) 11 Cognitive Psychology 287-307 at 288.
128. (although no one was fooled by 'Made in Taiwan')
129. D. C. Rubin & T. C. Kontis, 'A schema for common cents' (1983) 11 Memory & Cognition 335-41.
130. B. M. Hughes, 'Misremembering the appearance of common objects: Further cross-cultural confirmation' (2002) 95 Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1255-8 at 1255.
131. G. V. Jones, 'Misremembering a common object: When left is not right' (1990) 18 Memory & Cognition 174-82.
132. M. Rinck, 'Memory for everyday objects: Where are the digits on numerical keypads?' (1999) 13 Applied Cognitive Psychology 329-50.
133. M. Martin & G. V. Jones, 'Memory for orientation in the natural environment' (1997) 11 Applied Cognitive Psychology 279-88.
134. J. Morton, 'A singular lack of incidental learning' (1967) 215 Nature 203-4
135. Rinck 1999, above n. 86.
136. M. Martin & G. V. Jones, 'Generalizing everyday memory: Signs and handedness' (1998) 26 Memory & Cognition 193-200 at 193-4.
137. Martin 1997, above n. 87, 280.
138. W. R. Marmie & A. F. Healy, 'Memory for common objects: Brief intentional study is sufficient to overcome poor recall of US coin features' (2004) 18 Applied Cognitive Psychology 445-53.
139. Martin 1997, above n. 87, 280.
140. see also, Marmie 2004
141. Rubin 1983, above n. 84, 340.
142. A. D. Smith & G. Cohen, 'Memory for places: Routes, maps, and object locations'
143. Cohen 2008, above n. 33, 173-206 at 193.
144. Kabashi v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [1998] FCJ No. 509; Ali v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2004] FCJ No. 1350.
145. Bradburn 1987, above n. 46, 158.
146. Haber 2000, above n. 2, 1070.
147. J. B. Jobe, R. Tourangeau & A. F. Smith, 'Contributions of survey research to the understanding of memory' (1993) 7 Applied Cognitive Psychology 567-84 at 576.
148. Williams 2008, above n. 33, 28.
149. Belli 1998, above n. 47, 388.
150. Williams 2008, above n.33, 23.
151. S. Kemp, C. D. B. Burt & L. Furneaux, 'A test of the peak-end rule with extended autobiographical events' (2008) 36 Memory & Cognition 132-8 at 133.
152. Ulric Neisser, a pioneering researcher on autobiographical memory, coined the term 'repisodic memory' to refer to these constructed memories for repeated events
153. In a famous case study, Neisser analyzed the testimony of John Dean, former counsel to Richard Nixon, who had appeared before the Senate Watergate Investigating Committee and 'testified about conversations that later turned out to have been tape recorded'
154. Although Dean's description of individual conversations contained 'systematic distortion', Neisser nonetheless concluded that it was fundamentally accurate: it 'was accurate at a level that is neither "semantic" (since he was ostensibly describing particular episodes) nor "episodic" (since his accounts of the episodes were often wrong)
155. The term "repisodic" is coined here to describe such memories: what seems to be a remembered episode actually represents a repeated serious of events, and thus reflects a genuinely existing state of affairs'
156. As Neisser noted in conclusion, Dean had 'recalled the theme of a whole series of conversations, and expressed it in different events'
157. U. Neisser, 'John Dean's memory: A case study' (1981) 9 Cognition 1-22 at 1.
158. see also, Barclay 1986, above n. 14, 102.
159. For a methodological criticism of Neisser's John Dean study, however, see, D. Edwards & J. Potter, 'The Chancellor's memory: Rhetoric and truth in discursive remembering' (1992) 6 Applied Cognitive Psychology 187-215.
160. For a review, see, Jobe 1993, above n. 101.
161. Means 1991, above n. 17, 307.
162. see also, Cohen 1995, above n. 6.
163. J. B. Jobe, A. W. White, C. L. Kelley, D. J. Mingay, M. J. Sanchez & E. F. Loftus, 'Recall strategies and memory for health-care visits' (1990) 68 Milbank Quarterly 171-89.
164. M. Yoshihama, B. Gillespie, A. C. Hammock, R. F. Belli & R. M. Tolman, 'Does the life history calendar method facilitate the recall of intimate partner violence? Comparison of two methods of data collection' (2005) 29 Social Work Research 151-63; for a review.
165. see also, R. F. Belli, W. L. Shay & F. P. Stafford, 'Event history calendars and question list surveys: A direct comparison of interviewing methods' (2001) 65 Public Opinion Quarterly 45-74 at 66.
166. J. Herlihy, P. Scragg & S. Turner, 'Discrepancies in autobiographical memories - implications for the assessment of asylum seekers: repeated interviews study' (2002) 324 British Medical Journal 324-7 at 326.
167. see also, Herlihy 2009, above n. 3, 183.
168. S. Bidrose & G. S. Goodman, 'Testimony and evidence: A scientific case study of memory for child sexual abuse' (2000) 14 Applied Cognitive Psychology 197-213 at 209.
169. Means 1991, above n. 17, 298.
170. J.U. v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2005] FCJ No. 1079 at para. 8.
171. Hagi-Mayow v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [1994] FCJ No. 292 at para. 15.
172. Michael v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [1997] FCJ No. 933.
173. Christianson 1993, above n. 33, 367 (emphasis in original).
174. Haber 2000, above n. 2, 1061.
175. S.-A. Christianson & E. F. Loftus, 'Memory for traumatic events' (1987) 1 Applied Cognitive Psychology 225-39 at 237.
176. M. A. Safer, S.-A. Christianson, M. W. Autry & K. Österlund, 'Tunnel memory for traumatic events' (1998) 12 Applied Cognitive Psychology 99-117.
177. J. M. Brown, 'Eyewitness memory for arousing events: Putting things into context' (2003) 17 Applied Cognitive Psychology 93-106.
178. S.-A. Christianson, E. F. Loftus, H. Hoffman & G. R. Loftus, 'Eye fixations and memory for emotional events' (1991) 17 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition 693-701.
179. Safer 1998, above n. 119
180. T. H. Kramer, R. Buckhout & P. Eugenio, 'Weapon focus, arousal and eyewitness memory: Attention must be paid' (1990) 14 Law & Human Behavior 167-84 at 168.
181. See, e.g., Christianson 1993, above n. 33.
182. Christianson 1987, above n. 119.
183. Christianson 1993, above n. 33, 376.
184. but see, B. S. Cooper, M. A. Kennedy, H. F. Hervé, J. C. Yuille, 'Weapon focus in sexual assault memories of prostitutes' (2002) 25 International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 181-91.
185. Herlihy 2002, above n. 110, 325.
186. Kramer 1990, above n. 121, 168.
187. A. B. Villegas, M. J. Sharps & S. Chisholm, 'Eyewitness memory for vehicles' (Fall 2005) The Forensic Examiner 24-8 at 28.
188. Yuille 1986, above n. 33, 296.
189. E. F. Loftus, G. R. Loftus & J. Messo, 'Some facts about "Weapon Focus"' (1987) 11 Law & Human Behavior 55-62 (Loftus, Weapon).
190. A. Maass & G. Köhnken, 'Eyewitness identification: Simulating the "weapon effect"' (1989) 13 Law & Human Behavior 397-408.
191. Kramer 1990, above n. 121.
192. W. Oue, N. Onuma, Y. Uchino & Y. Hakoda, 'The effect of sharpness of a knife on weapon focus' (2002) 21 Japanese Journal of Psychonomic Science 45-6.
193. for review, see, Haber 2000, above n. 2.
194. The fact that our attention is focused on a weapon, however, does not mean that we will necessarily be able to remember that weapon clearly
195. Focused attention is a necessary but not sufficient condition for detail memory. While some 'weapon focus' studies have noted that their subjects were generally able to describe the weapon well (Kramer 1990, above n.121), a number of other studies have found that we are often quite poor at recognizing and identifying different types of guns, even in focused laboratory experiments
196. (for a review, see, M. J. Sharps, A. B. Hess, H. Casner, B. Ranes & J. Jones, 'Eyewitness memory in context: Toward a systematic understanding of eyewitness evidence' (Fall 2007) The Forensic Examiner 20-7 at 22).
197. The fact that ninety-two of 103 respondents in another study thought that they had seen a gun in the hands of a man holding an electric screwdriver highlights a separate and related problem: 'an impressive body of psychological research' on eyewitness memory, 'consisting of more than 2000 papers [as of 2005]', has demonstrated beyond question that 'gross inaccuracies are not uncommon and that memory is highly suggestible'
198. P.A. Granhag, L. A. Strömwall & M. Hartwig, 'Eyewitness testimony: Tracing the beliefs of Swedish legal professionals' (2005) 23 Behavioral Sciences and the Law 709-27 (Granhag, Eyewitness) at 709
199. Sharps 2007, above, 25
200. Williams 2008, above n. 33, 76.
201. see also, D. B. Wright & E. F. Loftus, 'How misinformation alters memories' (1998) 71 Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 155-64.
202. B. H. Bornstein, L. M. Liebel & N. C. Scarberry, 'Repeated testing in eyewitness memory: A means to improve recall of a negative emotional event' (1998) 12 Applied Cognitive Psychology 119-31.
203. E. F. Loftus & T. E. Burns, 'Mental shock can produce retrograde amnesia' (1982) 10 Memory & Cognition 318-23.
204. Loftus 1982, above n. 130, 321.
205. These findings have not been consistently replicated, however: other studies that have exposed their subjects to shocking images among a sequence of neutral ones have found anti-retrograde but not retrograde impairments
206. see, T. H. Kramer, R. Buckhout, P. Fox, E. Widman & B. Tusche, 'Effects of stress on recall' (1991) 5 Applied Cognitive Psychology 483-88.
207. S.-A. Christianson & L.-G. Nilsson, 'Functional amnesia as induced by a psychological trauma' (1984) 12 Memory & Cognition 142-5.
208. Haber 2000, above n. 2, 1062.
209. When researchers have analyzed case reports of live crimes, e.g., or have interviewed assault victims, they have sometimes found that the witnesses' descriptions of the perpetrator were more complete when a weapon was involved.
210. It is difficult to generalize from these types of studies, however, because of their small sample sizes, and because they are typically unable to control for many key 'confounding variables': the researchers cannot tell from the case reports, e.g., how far away the various witnesses were, how good their visibility was, how long the crime lasted, or even whether or not the witnesses knew the offender beforehand.
211. Cooper 2002, above n. 123, 189.
212. G. F. Wagstaff, J. MacVeigh, R. Boston, L. Scott, J. Brunas-Wagstaff & J. Cole, 'Can laboratory findings on eyewitness testimony be generalized to the real world? An archival analysis of the influence of violence, weapon presence, and age on eyewitness accuracy' (2003) 137 The Journal of Psychology 17-28 at 25, 26.
213. Villegas 2005, above n. 126, 24.
214. see also, Granhag, Eyewitness, 2005, above n. 129, 718.
215. Kramer 1991, above n. 131, 487
216. G. Cohen and D. Faulker, 'Memory for proper names: Age differences in retrieval' (1986) 4 British Journal of Developmental Psychology 187-97 (Abstract).
217. D. M. Burke, D. G. MacKay, J. S. Worthley & E. Wade, 'On the tip of the tongue: What causes word finding failures in young and older adults?' (1991) 30 Journal of Memory and Language 542-79.
218. J. R. Hanley & G. Cohen, 'Memory for people: Faces, names, and voices' in Cohen 2008, above n. 33, 107-40 at 127.
219. G. Cohen, 'Why is it difficult to put names to faces?' (1990) 81 British Journal of Psychology 287-97 at 287.
220. Burke 1991, above n. 136.
221. Other researchers have raised cautions about the methodologies of these studies, however; see, Hanley 2008
222. Hanley 2008
223. Cohen 1990, above n. 138, 287.
224. Hanley 2008, above n. 137, 132.
225. Burke 1991, above n. 136, 556, 572.
226. Cohen 1986, above n. 136; Hanley 2008, above n. 137, 131.
227. Burke 1991, above n. 136, 562.
228. Cohen 1990, above n. 138, 289; Burke 1991, above n. 136, 570.
229. Hanley 2008, above n. 137, 136.
230. Frejuste v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)) [2009] FCJ No. 831.
231. Goloman v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2001] FCJ No. 1155.
232. Abbace v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2000] FCJ No. 377.
233. Amaya v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2005] FCJ No. 1685.
234. L. Campos & M. Alonso-Quecuty, 'Remembering a criminal conversation: Beyond eyewitness testimony' (2006) 14 Memory 27-36 at 28.
235. M. E. Lamb, Y. Orbach, K. J. Sternberg, I. Hershkowitz & D. Horowitz, 'Accuracy of investigators' verbatim notes of their forensic interviews with alleged child abuse victims' (2000) 24 Law & Human Behavior 699-708.
236. C. J. Brainerd & V. F. Reyna, 'Fuzzy-trace theory and memory development' (2004) 24 Developmental Review 396-439 at 402; for a review.
237. See, Lamb 2000, above n. 155
238. K. Pezdek & M. Prull, 'Fallacies in memory for conversations: Reflections on Clarence Thomas, Anita Hill, and the like' (1993) 7 Applied Cognitive Psychology 299-310 at 299.
239. Campos 2006, above n.154, 33.
240. See also, J. B. Miller, P. de Winstanley & P. Carey, 'Memory for conversation' (1996) 4 Memory 615-31.
241. G. A. Radvansky, 'Situation models in memory: Texts and stories' in Cohen 2008, above n. 33, 228-47 at 229.
242. R. G. Crowder, Principles of learning and memory (Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1976) in Pezdek 1993, above n. 159, 300.
243. Campos 2006, above n. 154, 35.
244. See also, Miller 1996, above n. 160.
245. In addition, as Neisser's John Dean study demonstrated, in remembering a series of conversations, we may remember the gist of the whole rather than the gist of any particular instance: 'He is not remembering the 'gist' of a single episode by itself, but the common characteristics of a whole series of events'
246. Neisser 1981, above n. 105, at 20.
247. In the IRB's training materials for new Refugee Protection Division Members, under the heading 'Tools for Testing Presumption of Credible Testimony', the first item listed is 'Inconsistencies within the testimony'
248. IRB, 'Reasons for Decision: RPD New Member Training: Training Materials' Learning and Professional Development, June 2007, 13
249. See, L. A. Strömwall, P. A. Granhag, A.-C. Jonsson, 'Deception among pairs: "Let's say we had lunch and hope they swallow it!"' (2003) 9 Psychology, Crime & Law 109-24 at 110-11.
250. N. Brewer & A. Burke, 'Effects of testimonial inconsistencies and eyewitness confidence on mock-juror judgments' (2002) 46 Law & Human Behavior 353-64.
251. N. Brewer & R. M. Hupfeld, 'Effects of testimonial inconsistencies and witness group identity on mock-juror judgments', (2004) 34 Journal of Applied Social Psychology 493-513.
252. One study found that Swedish Migration Board members shared this view, and the researchers noted that 'we have no reason to expect that the beliefs of Swedish MB personnel differ from those of other Western MB personnel'
253. P. A. Granhag, L. A. Strömwall & M. Hartwig, 'Granting asylum or not? Migration Board personnel's beliefs about deception' (2005) 31 Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 29-50 (Granhag, Migration) at 47.
254. For a review, see, M. Hartwig, P. A. Granhag, L. A. Strömwall, 'Guilty and innocent suspects' strategies during police interrogations' (2007) 13 Psychology, Crime & Law 213-27 at 213.
255. see also, P. A. Granhag & L. A. Strömwall, 'Effects of preconceptions on deception detection and new answers to why lie-catchers often fail' (2000) 6 Psychology, Crime & Law 197-218.
256. Strömwall 2003, above n. 167, 121.
257. P. A. Granhag & L. A. Strömwall, 'Repeated interrogations - Stretching the deception detection paradigm' (1999) 7 Expert Evidence 163-74.
258. Granhag, Migration 2005, above n. 167.
259. P. A. Granhag & L. A. Strömwall, 'Repeated interrogations: Verbal and non-verbal cues to deception' (2002) 16 Applied Cognitive Psychology 243-57 at 255.
260. P.A. Granhag, L. A. Strömwall & A.-C. Jonsson, 'Partners in crime: How liars in collusion betray themselves' (2003) 33 Journal of Applied Social Psychology 848-68; Granhag 1999.
261. Granhag 1999
262. Hartwig 2007, above n. 168.
263. The noted exception is when people testify in pairs: pairs of liars tend to be more consistent between them, not less, suggesting that 'liars in collusion know that planning is crucial'
264. Granhag 2003, above n. 170, 850.
265. W. A. Wagenaar & A. Dalderop, 'Remembering the zoo: A comparison of true and false stories told by pairs of witnesses' (1994), unpublished manuscript, Department of Experimental Psychology, Leiden University, The Netherlands, in Granhag 2003, above n. 170.
266. Strömwall 2003, above n. 167.
267. Campos 2006, above n. 154, 33.
268. A leading researcher recently noted in a study entitled 'Retelling is not the same as recalling' that when we recount our experiences in a conversational style we 'retell' them, rather than attempting to recall them as precisely as we would in a more structured memory test
269. Outside of the laboratory, we 'tend to focus on the kernel of meaning rather than on specific details' and for this reason, across a wide variety of everyday contexts, truthful and broadly accurate retellings are likely to be significantly inaccurate from a clinical perspective
270. E. J. Marsh, 'Retelling is not the same as recalling: Implications for memory' (2007) 16 Current Directions in Psychological Science 16-20 at 16, 17.
271. Quevedo v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2006] FCJ No. 1585 at para. 24.
272. Ojo, above n. 27.
273. Taboada v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2008] FCJ No. 1395.
274. Strömwall 2003, above n. 167, 121.
275. Granhag 1999, above n. 169, 163.
276. A further caution against relying on consistency as a measure of credibility is noted in the research: to a large degree, consistency is in the eye of the beholder. Several studies looking at consistency have observed that there was often 'substantial disagreement' among the researchers and their assistants as to whether or not the subjects' statements were consistent.
277. For one set of statements, e.g., half of the seventy-eight assistants found them to be consistent and half found them to be inconsistent.
278. Granhag 2000, above n. 168, 211, 215.
279. See also, S. Porter, J. C. Yuille & D. R. Lehman, 'The nature of real, implanted and fabricated memories for emotional childhood events: Implications for the recovered memory debate' (1999) 23 Law & Human Behavior 517-37 in Granhag 1999, above n. 169.
280. This level of subjectivity further undermines the value of consistency as a reliable tool for assessing credibility
281. J. W. Turtle & J. C. Yuille, 'Lost but not forgotten details: Repeated eyewitness recall leads to reminiscence but not hypermnesia' (1994) 79 Journal of Applied Psychology 260-71 at 269.
282. Granhag 2003, above n. 170.
283. S. J. Anderson, G. Cohen & S. Taylor, 'Rewriting the Past: Some factors affecting the variability of personal memories' (2000) 14 Applied Cognitive Psychology 435-54 at 450.
284. S.-A. Christianson, 'Emotional stress and eyewitness memory: A critical review' (1992) 112 Psychological Bulletin 284-309 at 285.
285. R. Fordham, 'What do you remember?', BBC News, June 6 2008.
286. Williams 2008, above n. 33, 78.
287. Belli 2001, above n. 109, 46.
288. Barclay 1986, above n. 14, 99, 101.
289. Williams 2008, above n. 33, 81.
290. Bradburn 1987, above n. 46, 158.
291. Wagenaar 1986, above n. 13.
292. see also, Bradburn 1987
293. Linton 1975, above n. 13.
294. C. D. B. Burt, S. Kemp & M. Conway, 'What happens if you retest autobiographical memory 10 years on?' (2001) 29 Memory & Cognition 127-36.
295. Marsh 2007, above n. 174, 18.
296. M. C. Anderson, 'Rethinking interference theory: Executive control and the mechanisms of forgetting' (2003) 49 Journal of Memory and Language 415-45 at 424-5.
297. K.-H. Bäuml, M. Zellner & R. Vilimek, 'When remembering causes forgetting: Retrieval-induced forgetting as recovery failure' (2005) 31 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition 1221-34.
298. M. D. MacLeod & C. N. Macrae, 'Gone but not forgotten: The transient nature of retrieval-induced forgetting' (2001) 12 Psychological Science 148-52.
299. M. MacLeod, 'Retrieval-induced forgetting in eyewitness memory: Forgetting as a consequence of remembering' (2002) 16 Applied Cognitive Psychology 135-49.
300. J. Saunders & M. D. MacLeod, 'New evidence on the suggestibility of memory: The role of retrieval-induced forgetting in misinformation effects' (2002) 8 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 127-42.
301. M. D. MacLeod, J. Saunders & L. Chalmers, 'Retrieval-induced forgetting: The unintended consequences of unintended forgetting' in G. M. Davies & G. B. Wright (eds.), Current Issues in Applied Memory Research (New York: 2010), 50-71.
302. See, e.g., M. C. Anderson, R.A. Bjork & E. L. Bjork, 'Remembering can cause forgetting: Retrieval dynamics in long-term memory' (1994) 20 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 1063-87.
303. B. Spitzer & K.-H. Bäuml, 'Retrieval-induced forgetting in item recognition: Evidence for a reduction in general memory strength' (2007) 33 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 863-75.
304. J. S. Shaw III, R. A. Bjork & A. Handal, 'Retrieval-induced forgetting in an eyewitness-memory paradigm' (1995) 2 Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 249-53.
305. For a review, see, MacLeod 2002, above n. 190.
306. M. D. MacLeod & J. Saunders, 'The role of inhibitory control in the production of misinformation effects' (2005) 31 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition 964-79.
307. see, B. J. A. Hauer, I. Wessel, H. Merckelbach, A. Roefs & T. Dalgleish, 'Effects of repeated retrieval of central and peripheral details in complex emotional slides' (2007) 15 Memory 435-49.
308. I. Wessel & B. J. A. Hauer, 'Retrieval-induced forgetting of autobiographical memory details' (2006) 20 Cognition & Emotion 430-47.
309. A. J. Barnier, L. Hung & M. A. Conway, 'Retrieval-induced forgetting of emotional and unemotional autobiographical memories' (2004) 18 Cognition and Emotion 457-77.
310. Barnier 2004
311. see also, Mcleod 2005, above n. 194.
312. Some researchers have suggested a link between these findings and other research that has shown a correlation between 'intrusive memory' (flashbacks) and 'over-general memory' (memory that is vague and lacking in detail).
313. People who remember trauma vividly and repeatedly often have poor memories generally, and some researchers suggest that this effect could be caused by an 'RIF [Retrieval-Induced Forgetting]-like phenomenon': when our minds are caught in the loop of involuntarily rehearsing traumatic memories, our recall for other memories may become impaired. Wessel 2006, above n. 195, 432.
314. A. R. Moradi, J. Herlihy, G. Yasseri, M. Shahraray, S. Turner & T. Dalgleish, 'Specificity of episodic and semantic aspects of autobiographical memory in relation to symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)' (2008) 127 Acta Psychologica 645-53.
315. MacLeod 2002, above n. 190, 145-6.
316. Shaw 1995, above n. 193, 253.
317. McLeod 2005, above n. 194, 974.
318. The merits of this credibility assessment strategy are suspect regardless. Some truth and deception studies have found a tendency among truth-tellers to give more detailed statements.
319. M. Hartwig, P. A. Granhag, L. A. Strömwall & O. Kronkvist, 'Strategic use of evidence during police interviews: When training to detect deception works' (2006) 30 Law & Human Behavior 603-19.
320. Others, however, have found no support for the theory that 'deceptive statements are less detailed than truthful statements', and have noted that one of the principle strategies that liars use to try to fool their interrogators is to make their story as detailed as possible.
321. Granhag 2002, above n. 170, 255.
322. Hartwig 2007, above n. 168, 220.
323. Anderson 2000, above n. 181.
324. 'Hypermnesia' refers to 'increases in net recall on successive trials', when any information that has been forgotten is factored out, whereas 'reminiscence' refers to 'gains in gross recall', without taking into account 'how many previously mentioned details are not provided again'. Turtle 1994, above n.180, 261.
325. In a typical study, e.g., researchers gave an initial instruction of 'Please tell me everything you can', and followed it up with three probes: 'Can you remember anything else?' 'Can you tell me anything more' and 'Okay, do you think that's everything?' Bluck 1999, above n. 22, 674.
326. D. La Rooy, M.-E. Pipe & J. E. Murray, 'Reminiscence and hypermnesia in children's eyewitness memory' (2005) 90 Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 235-54 at 249.
327. See, e.g., Turtle 1994, above n. 180.
328. Barnier 2004, above n. 195.
329. D. Dunning & L. B. Stern, 'Examining the generality of eyewitness hypermnesia: a close look at time delay and question type' (1992) 6 Applied Cognitive Psychology 643-57.
330. Anderson 2000, above n. 181.
331. Bluck 1999, above n. 22.
332. R. P. Kern, T. M. Libkuman & H. Otani, 'Memory for negatively arousing and neutral pictoral stimuli using a repeated testing paradigm' (2002) 16 Cognition & Emotion 749-67.
333. E. Scrivner & M. A. Safer, 'Eyewitnesses show hypermnesia for details about a violent event' (1988) 73 Journal of Applied Psychology 371-7 at 375.
334. Although the researchers note that some of this increase was certainly due to the fact that the police had 'requested fewer object descriptions' than the researchers
335. Yuille 1986, above n. 33, 294.
336. Bluck 1999, above n. 22.
337. J. A. E. Gilbert & R. P. Fisher, 'The effects of varied retrieval cues on reminiscence in eyewitness memory' (2006) 20 Applied Cognitive Psychology 723-39.
338. Dunning 1992, above n. 206.
339. Scrivener 1988, above n.207.
340. Turtle 1994, above n. 180.
341. Herlihy 2002, above n. 110.
342. But see, P. Eugenio, R. Buckhout, S. Kostes & K. E. Ellison, 'Hypermnesia in the eyewitness to a crime' (1982) 19 Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 83-6.
343. Dunning 1992, above n. 206, 644, 648.
344. Herlihy 2002, above n. 110, 327.
345. D. C. Rubin & A. D. Baddeley, 'Telescoping is not time compression: A model of the dating of autobiographical events' (1989) 17 Memory & Cognition 653-61.
346. Cohen 2001, above n. 3, 6.
347. Herlihy 2009, above n. 3, 181.
348. Kern 2002, above n. 206, 766.
349. Akhigbe v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2002] FCJ No. 332 at para. 16.
350. Basseghi v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [1994] FCJ No. 1867 at para. 33 (emphasis added).
351. Gilbert 2006, above n. 209, 737.
352. T. Smeets, I. Candel, H. Merckelback, 'Accuracy, completeness, and consistency of emotional memories' (2004) 117 The American Journal of Psychology 595-609.
353. Anderson 2000, above n. 181.
354. R. P. Fisher & B. L. Cutler, 'The relation between consistency and accuracy of eyewitness testimony' in G. Davies, S. Lloyd-Bostock, M. McMurran & C. Wilson (eds.), Psychology, Law and Criminal Justice: International Developments in Research and Practice (New York, 1996) 21-8 at 26.
355. Yuille 1986, above n. 33, 296.
356. N. Brewer, R. Potter, R. Fisher, N. Bond & M. A. Luszcz, 'Beliefs and data on the relationship between consistency and accuracy of eyewitness testimony' (1999) 13 Applied Cognitive Psychology 297-313.
357. Yuille 1986, above n. 33, 298.
358. In the Washington DC sniper case, several eyewitnesses famously described the suspects' vehicle as a 'white or cream-coloured van', whereas in fact it was 'a dark blue Chevy Caprice'; Sharps 2007, above n. 129, 22.
359. These types of errors are perhaps less surprising when we consider that, even under focused laboratory conditions, when 63 participants were given a recognition task involving photographs of cars, less than a quarter could correctly identify the target vehicles
360. Villegas 2005, above n. 126, 27.
361. See also, G. Davies & N. Robertson, 'Recognition memory for automobiles: A developmental study' (1993) 31 Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 103-6.
362. The researchers posit an 'interest hypothesis' to explain this poor performance; one study, e.g., found that men and boys recognized cars better than women and girls, who in turn were better at recognizing female faces.
363. The researchers theorize that this may be because men and boys are generally more interested in cars, whereas women and girls are generally more interested in... cosmetics. Davies 1993, above, 106.
364. Yuille 1986, above n. 33, 298.
365. Brewer 1999, above n. 218, 309.
366. Herlihy 2002, above n. 110.
367. Brewer 1999, above n. 218, 309.
368. A. D. Yarmey & S. Morris, 'The effects of discussion on eyewitness memory' (1998) 28 Journal of Applied Social Psychology 1637-48.
369. A. Niedzwienska, 'Distortion of autobiographical memories' (2003) 17 Applied Cognitive Psychology 81-91 at 89.
370. D. B. Wright, G. Self & C. Justice, 'Memory conformity: Exploring misinformation effects when presented by another person' (2000) 91 British Journal of Psychology 189-202.
371. See also, C. R. Hollin & B. R. Clifford, 'Eyewitness testimony: The effects of discussion on recall accuracy and agreement' (1983) 13 Journal of Applied Social Psychology 234-44.
372. Haber 2000, above n. 2.
373. See, S. M. Lane & M. S. Zaragoza, 'A little elaboration goes a long way: The role of generation in eyewitness suggestibility' (2007) 35 Memory & Cognition 1255-66.
374. Niedzwienska 2003, above n. 225, 89.
375. H. Schmolck, E. A. Buffalo & L. R. Squire, 'Memory distortions develop over time: Recollections of the O. J. Simpson trial verdict after 15 and 32 months' (2000) 11 Psychological Science 39-45.
376. For memory in general, across a wide range of contexts, confidence has been found to be unrelated to accuracy.
377. See, e.g., Yarmey 1998, above n. 224.
378. U. Neisser & N. Harsch, 'Phantom flashbulbs: False recollections of hearing the news about Challenger' in E. Winograd & U. Neisser (eds.), Affect and accuracy in recall: Studies of flashbulb memories (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992) 9-31
379. S. M. Zola 'Memory, amnesia, and the issue of recovered memory: Neurobiological aspects' (1998) 18 Clinical Psychology Review 915-32.
380. I. E. Hyman, Jr. & F. J. Billings, 'Individual differences and the creation of false childhood memories' (1998) 6 Memory 1-20 at 16.
381. Brewer 1999, above n. 218.
382. Niedzwienska 2003, above n. 225, 89.
383. I. E. Hyman, Jr. & E. F. Loftus, 'Errors in autobiographical memory' (1998) 18 Clinical Psychology Review 933-47 (Hyman, Errors) at 938-9.
384. See also, M. K. Johnson & C. L. Raye, 'Reality monitoring' (1981) 88 Psychological Review 67-85.
385. Haber 2000, above n. 2, 1069 (emphasis in original).
386. I. E. Hyman, Jr. & J. Pentland, 'The role of mental imagery in the creation of false childhood memories' (1996) Journal of Memory and Language 101-17 at 114.
387. Kemp 2008, above n. 104, 133, in addition, 'researchers have frequently reported that both positive and negative affect fade with time, but that the latter fades faster'.
388. E. D. Schwartz, J. M Kowalski & R. J. McNally, 'Malignant memories: Post-traumatic changes in memory in adults after a school shooting' (1993) 6 Journal of Traumatic Stress 545-53.
389. Hyman, Errors 1998, above n. 232, 942.
390. See also, L. J. Levine & M. A. Safer, 'Sources of bias in memory for emotion' (2002) 11 Current Directions in Psychological Science 169-73.
391. B. L. Fredrickson & D. Kahneman, 'Duration neglect in retrospective evaluations of affective episodes' (1992) 65 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 45-55.
392. L. J. Levine, 'Reconstructing memory for emotions' (1997) 126 Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 165-77.
393. D. L. Thomas & E. Diener, 'Memory accuracy in the recall of emotions' (1990) 59 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 291-9.
394. Kemp 2008, above n. 104.
395. R. E. Smith, T. R. Leffingwell, J. T. Ptacek, 'Can people remember how they coped? Factors associated with discordance between same-day and retrospective reports' (1999) 76 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1050-61.
396. S.-A. Christianson & E. Engelberg, 'Memory and emotional consistency: The MS Estonia ferry disaster' (1999) 7 Memory 471-82.
397. L. J. Levine, C. K. Whalen, B. Henker & L. D. Jamner, 'Looking back on September 11, 2001: Appraised impact and memory for emotions in adolescents and adults' (2005) 20 Journal of Adolescent Research 497-523.
398. Hyman 1996, above n. 234, 104; Smith 1999, above n. 239, 1059.
399. This is in keeping with other studies that have demonstrated a 'hindsight bias' in other memory contexts.
400. These studies have shown that 'memories may be altered to confirm with current beliefs and attitudes', that through involuntary processes our recollections 'can be edited in the light of later experiences'. Williams 2008, above n. 33, 78.
401. For a review, see, G. S. Goodman & A. Melinder, 'The development of autobiographical memory: A new model' in S. Magnussen & T. Helstrup (eds.), Everyday Memory (New York: 2007), 111-34 at 117.
402. M. Julian, J. N. Bohannon III & W. Aue, 'Measures of flashbulb memory: Are elaborate memories consistently accurate?' in O. Luminet & A. Curci (eds.) Flashbulb Memories: New issues and new perspectives (New York: 2009), 99-122 at 99.
403. R. Fivush, J. Bohanek, K. Marin & J. McDermott Sales, 'Emotional memory and memory for emotions' in Luminet 2009.
404. R. J. McNally, Remembering Trauma (Cambridge: 2003), 55.
405. D. B. Pillemer, '"Hearing the news" versus "being there": Comparing flashbulb memories and recall of first-hand experiences' in Luminet 2009, above n. 244, 125-40 at 138.
406. Williams 2008, above n. 33, 69.
407. O. Luminet & A. Curci, 'Introduction' in Luminet 2009, above n. 244, 1-9 at 4.
408. Williams 2008, above n. 33, 69; for a review, see, McNally 2003, above n. 246, 53-5.
409. J. T. Talarico & D. Rubin, 'Flashbulb memories result from ordinary memory processes and extraordinary event characteristics' in Luminet 2009, above n. 244, 79-97 at 92.
410. Schmolck 2000 at 39; for review
411. See, A. E. van Giezen, E. Arensman, P. Spinhoven & G. Wolters, 'Consistency of memory for emotionally arousing events: A review of prospective and experimental studies' (2005) 25 Clinical Psychology Review 935-53 at 937.
412. P. J. Lee & N. R. Brown, 'Delay related changes in personal memories for September 11, 2001' (2003) 17 Applied Cognitive Psychology 1007-15 at 1013.
413. M. C. Smith, U. Bibi & D. E. Sheard, 'Evidence for the differential impact of time and emotion on personal and event memories for September 11, 2001' (2003) 17 Applied Cognitive Psychology 1054.
414. J. M. Talarico & D. C. Rubin, 'Flashbulb memories are special after all; in phenomenology, not accuracy' (2007) 21 Applied Cognitive Psychology 557-78.
415. S. R. Schmidt, 'Autobiographical memories for the September 11th attacks: Reconstructive errors and emotional impairment of memory' (2004) 32 Memory & Cognition 443-54 at 451.
416. Neisser 1992, above n. 230, in van Giezen, above n. 251, 945.
417. Schmolck 2000, above n. 230, 41.
418. For a comprehensive review of other emotional memory consistency studies, see, R. G. Winningham, I. E. Hyman Jr. & D. L Dinnel, 'Flashbulb memories? The effects of when the initial memory report was obtained' (2000) 8 Memory 209-16.
419. Hyman, Errors 1998, above n. 232, 940.
420. Brewer 1999, above n. 218.
421. Herlihy 2002, above n. 110.
422. U. Neisser, E. Winograd, E. T. Bergman, C. A. Schreiber, S. E. Palmer & M. S. Weldon, 'Remembering the Earthquake: Direct Experience vs. Hearing the News' (1996) 4 Memory 337-58 at 338.
423. N. Er, 'A new flashbulb memory model applied to the Marmara earthquake' (2003) 17 Applied Cognitive Psychology 503-17.
424. Pillemer 2009, above n. 247, 132.
425. S. M. Southwick, MD, C. A. Morgan III MD, A. L. Nicolaou, PhD & D. S. Charney, MD, 'Consistency of memory for combat-related traumatic events in veterans of Operation Desert Storm' (1997) 145 American Journal of Psychiatry 173-7.
426. I. Bramsen, A. J. E. Dirkzwager, S. C. M. van Esch & Henk M. van der Ploeg, 'Consistency of self-reports of traumatic events in a population of Dutch peacekeepers: Reason for optimism' (2001) 14 Journal of Traumatic Stress 733-40.
427. S. Wessely, C. Unwin, M. Hotopf, L. Hull, K. Ismail, V. Nicolaou & A. David, 'Stability of recall of military hazards over time' (2003) 183 British Journal of Psychiatry 314-22.
428. Schwarz 1993, above n. 236.
429. L. Roemer, B. T. Litz, S. M. Orsillo, P. J. Ehlich and M. J. Friedman, 'Increases in retrospective accounts of war-zone exposure over time: the role of PTSD symptom severity' (1998) 11 Journal of Traumatic Stress 597-605.
430. K. E. Krinsley, J. G. Gallagher, F. W. Weathers, C. J. Kutter & D. G. Kaloupek, 'Consistency of retrospective reporting about exposure to traumatic events' (2003) 16 Journal of Traumatic Stress 399-409.
431. Memories of rape, in particular, have been found to be 'less "flashbulb"-like than other unpleasant memories'. Fivush 2009, above n. 245, 166.
432. Southwick 1997
433. Some researchers have suggested that our memories may show more consistency when the first test is delayed: Winningham 2000, above n. 260.
434. Yet in one study, similar results were found even when the first interview was held a full three years after the subjects had returned home from the war-zone
435. Between this first delayed interview and the second a year later, 88 per cent of the respondents changed at least one of their answers and 12 per cent changed more than a quarter
436. Roemer 1998, above n. 265.
437. Bramsen 2001, above n. 265.
438. Brewer 1999, above n. 218, 311 (emphasis added); see also, Gilbert 2006, above n. 209; Fisher 1996, above n. 218.
439. Smeets 2004, above n. 217.
440. Fisher 1996, Brewer 1999, Gilbert 2006
441. Yuille 1986, above n. 33, 299.
442. Bidrose 2000, above n. 111; Bluck 1999, above n. 22; Herlihy 2002, above n. 110.
443. A recent study found that members of the Swedish Migration Board, e.g., relied on contradictions 'to a relatively large degree', which the researchers cautioned may be 'a too simplistic' approach.
444. Granhag, Migration 2005, above n. 167, 43.
445. As another researcher noted in regard to the sixty-two participants in his study, all but two of whom made contradictory statements at their second interview, 'virtually all of the witnesses' testimonies would have been vulnerable to being discredited to some degree', despite their truthfulness and overall accuracy: Brewer 1999, above n. 218, 310.
446. For a review, see, E. S. Parker, L. Cahill & J. L. McGaugh, 'A Case of Unusual Autobiographical Remembering' (2006) 12 Neurocase 35-49.
447. Turtle 1994, above n. 180, 226; see also, Bidrose 2000, above n. 111, where the subjects' ability to review physical evidence had similarly little effect on their memories.
448. Granhag 2002, above n. 170, 245.
449. See, e.g., D. Hermans, A. de Decker, S. de Peuter, F. Raes, P. Eelen & J. M. G. Williams, 'Autobiographical memory specificity and affect regulation: Coping with a negative life event' (2008) 25 Depression and Anxiety 787-92 at 787.
450. Herlihy 2009, above n. 3, 184.
451. Anderson 2000, above n. 181, 440; Betz 1997, above n. 8.
452. Anderson 2000, above n. 181, 440.
453. For a review, see, Dunning 1992, above n. 206.
454. see also, Brewer 1999, above n. 218.
455. H. P. Bahrick, L. K Hall & L. A. Da Costa, 'Fifty years of memory of college grades: Accuracy and distortions' (2008) 8 Emotion 13-22.
456. Bidrose 2000, above n. 111.
457. Van Giezen 2005, above n. 251, 937.
458. Gilbert 2006, above n. 209, 725.
459. see also, Fisher 1996, above n. 218, 26.
460. Cohen 1995, above n. 6.
461. Loftus 1990, above n. 18, 332; Sudman 1984, above n. 52.
462. Janssen 2006, above n. 9.
463. J. Huttenlocher, L. V. Hedges & N. M. Bradburn, 'Reports of elapsed time: Bounding and rounding processes in estimation' (1990) 16 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 196-213.
464. Belli 1998, above n. 47, 384.
465. Pederson 2002, above n. 67, 771, 773.
466. Burt 1996, above n. 65.
467. Burt, Time 2008, above n. 5, 134.
468. Cohen 1995, above n. 6, 285.
469. Campos 2006, above n. 154.
470. Pezdek 1993, above n. 159, 305.
471. Wagenaar 1986, above n. 13.
472. S. Sudman & N. M. Bradburn, 'Effects of time and memory factors on response in surveys' (1973) 68 Journal of the American Statistical Association 805-15 at 815.
473. Gilbert 2006, above n. 209, 735.
474. Jobe 1993, above n. 101, 569.
475. See, e.g., Herlihy 2002, above n. 110.
476. Schmolck 2000, above n. 230.
477. Belli 1998, above n. 47, 384.
478. Belli 2001, above n. 109, 46; for a review.
479. See, Jobe 1993, above n. 101.
480. N. Mathiowetz, 'The problem of omissions and telescoping error: New evidence from a study of unemployment', Proceedings of the Section on Survey Research Methods (American Statistical Association, 1986) in Belli 1998, above n. 47.
481. J. M. Bushery, 'Recall biases for different reference periods in the National Crime Survey', Proceedings of the Section on Survey Methods Research (American Statistical Association, 1981) 238-42 in Jobe 1993, above n. 101.
482. For a sense of the latter, see, Sherpa v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [2009] FCJ No. 665, in which the Court found that an interpreter was 'sufficiently precise and competent to convey [the claimant's] words on the material points of concern', even though she had on several occasions mistranslated the Board's questions to the claimant, and had 'inaccurately translated her answers and explanations, as well as adding words she had not said'; even though she had on 270 occasions used English words in interpreting to the claimant; and even though she 'acknowledged during the hearing that [the claimant] was having difficulty understanding her because they were from different localities and had different accents' (at paras. 23-4, 57).
483. Herlihy 2009, above n. 3, 179.
484. Sheikh v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), above n. 1, para. 28.
485. Hartwig 2007, above n. 168, 220.
486. Researchers note that this 'illusion of transparency' - our common belief that our 'inner states are visible to a higher degree than is really the case' and that 'innocence will shine through' - may in fact 'put innocent suspects at risk'.
487. T. Gilovich, K. Savitsky & V. H. Medvec, 'The illusion of transparency: Biased assessments of others' ability to read one's emotional states' (1998) 75 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 332-46.
488. See also, S. M. Kassin & R. J. Norwick, 'Why people waive their Miranda rights: The power of innocence' (2004) 28 Law & Human Behavior 211-21.
489. Hartwig 2007, above n. 168, 213.
490. See also, Granhag 2000, above n. 168.
491. C. F. Bond Jr. & B. M. DePaulo, 'Individual Differences in Judging Deception: Accuracy and Bias' (2008) 134 Psychological Bulletin 477-92.
492. Granhag 1999, above n. 169, 165.
493. As the researchers note, such decision makers 'rarely receive any reliable outcome feedback about the correctness of their veracity assessments'; Granhag, Migration 2005, above n. 167, 30.
494. Granhag, Migration 2005, above n. 167.
495. Granhag 1999, above n. 169.
496. Strömwal 2003, above n. 167.
497. S. M. Kassin, C. A. Meissner & R. J. Norwick, '"I'd know a false confession if I saw one": A comparative study of college students and police investigators' (2005) 29 Law & Human Behavior 211-27.
498. B. M. DePaulo & R. L. Pfeifer, 'On-the-job experience and skill at detecting deception' (1986) 16 Journal of Applied Social Psychology 249-67; for a review.
499. See, P. Ekman & M. O'Sullivan, 'Who can catch a liar?' (1991) 46 American Psychologist 913-20 at 913.
500. A noted exception were US Secret Service agents, whose lie-detection accuracy in one famous study was found to be significantly higher than average, possibly because they had learned to rely more heavily on 'non-verbal' cues; Ekman 1991, above.
501. P. Ekman & M. O'Sullivan, 'Who is misleading whom?: A reply to Nickerson and Hammond' (1993) 48 American Psychologist 989-90.
502. Other studies have since found that other professionals who similarly rely on 'behavioral clues' are also able to achieve better-than-average lie-detection accuracy.
503. P. Ekman, M. O'Sullivan & M. G. Frank, 'A few can catch a liar' (1999) 10 Psychological Science 263-6.
504. However, for a recent methodological criticism of these studies, suggesting that the better-performing subjects may in fact have had an unfair advantage, see, C. F. Bond Jr., 'Commentary: A few can catch a liar, sometimes: Comments on Ekman and O'Sullivan (1991), as well as Ekman, O'Sullivan, and Frank (1999)' (2008) 22 Applied Cognitive Psychology 1298-1300.
505. The bias to which the researchers refer is 'investigator bias', the tendency of those looking for deception to find it where none exists; Kassin 2004.
506. A. Vrij, 'Why professionals fail to catch liars and how they can improve' (2004) 9 Legal and Criminal Psychology 159-81 at 171.
507. Granhag 2003, above n. 170, 864.
508. Granhag, Migration 2005, above n. 167, 43.
509. McNally 2003, above n. 246, 125, 117.
510. Yuille 1986, above n. 33, 296.
511. Betz 1997, above n. 8, 713.
512. While the reality in the hearing room is often different, it is worth noting that a lowered bar is certainly in keeping with the IRB's official policy.
513. The Board's training materials sensibly instruct Members as follows: 'Remember - sworn testimony is presumed true'; 'Do Not Expect the Witness to Have Perfect Recall: Refugee claimants, like all people, and sometimes with more justification than most, may be unable to recall some information.
514. Times, dates, locations, distances, external events, and even significant personal experiences may be forgotten or distorted by time'; and 'Do Not Press the Witness For Too Many Details: People do not perceive all of the details of any given event and if you press witnesses for too much detail, they may unconsciously 'fill' in the details they can't remember'.
515. Immigration and Refugee Board, 'IRB Questioning Techniques', undated, 13.
516. In Canada, this presumption has the force of law: Maldonado v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) [1979] FCJ No. 248.
517. For a review of its role internationally in the refugee context, see, M. Kagan, 'Is Truth in the Eye of the Beholder - Objective Credibility Assessment in Refugee Status Adjudication' (2003) 17 Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 367-415.
518. Kagan concludes: 'Forcing applicants to "prove" their credibility would impose an effective limit on the protection accorded by the Refugee Convention, which is not authorized by the treaty and which many genuine applicants could not overcome.
519. Given that credibility is not an actual criterion for refugee status, applicants cannot be expected to establish credibility as if it were part of their burden of proof. Rather, applicant testimony is a means by which asylum-seekers can prove the substantive criteria for refugee status.
520. These considerations call for beginning refugee status determinations with the presumption that the applicant will be truthful, which can be rebutted if there is substantial reason to reject credibility', 374.