ABSTRACT
Stereotypes of aging are generally negative (for example, that older people are slow and forgetful). This contrasts with stereotypes of the personality traits of older people, which are typically positive (for example, honest, trustworthy, kind, and reliable). Both of these stereotypes extend directly to the judicial system and have a detrimental effect on the perceived credibility of the older adult as an eyewitness. For instance, Ross, Dunning, Toglia, and Ceci (1990) reported that older adults’ testimonies were rated more negatively than those of young eyewitnesses on accuracy and suggestibility. However, the older adults were rated equal to the young adults in terms of the honesty and integrity of their testimonies. Similarly, Brimacombe, Quinton, Nance, and Garrioch (1997) reported that older adult eyewitnesses are perceived as less accurate, confident, and competent but more honest than young adults. More recently, Kwong See, Hoffman, and Wood (2001) reported that young adults rated an 83-year-old female witness to be less competent but more honest than a 23-year-old female witness. Thus there is a disparity between the perceptions of integrity of the older adult eyewitness and the accuracy of the very same eyewitness. The fact that older adults are perceived to be more honest could possibly mean that they are better eyewitnesses, although this stereotype is likely to be misleading (and is actually somewhat neglected in the research literature). The fact that they are perceived to be less accurate suggests that they are poorer eyewitnesses. One of the goals of this chapter is to evaluate this stereotype of older adults as less accurate eyewitnesses.
