The Michigan State University Cognitive Science Program’s
Distinguished Speaker Series presents
Dr. Gary L. Wells
Iowa State University
" Mistaken Eyewitness Identification and False Confidence: The Creation of
Distorted Retrospective Judgments "
Monday, September 15, 2008 at 5:30 PM
in Natural Science Building Room 116
Gary L. Wells is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Iowa State University and
Director of Social Science at the Institute of Forensic Science and Public Policy in
Greensboro, NC. He is an internationally recognized scholar in scientific psychology
and his studies of eyewitness memory are widely known and cited. He has authored
over 170 articles and chapters and two books. His research, which is funded by the
National Science Foundation, focuses on the reliability of eyewitness identification and
the validity of procedures used to make such identifications. Wells’ findings have been
incorporated into standard textbooks in psychology and law. His research-based
proposals on lineup procedures, such as the use of double-blind techniques, are being
increasingly accepted in law enforcement practices across the U.S. His conclusions
about eyewitness identification have received national media attention in such places as
Time magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times.
He has made appearances on CBS’s 48 Hours, the NBC Nightly News, Court TV, and
NBC’s Today Show, among others. He was a founding member of the U.S. Department
of Justice group that developed the first set of national guidelines for eyewitness
evidence and co-chaired the panel that wrote the Justice Department training manual for
law enforcement on eyewitness identification evidence. Wells has worked with
prosecutors and police across the U.S. to reform eyewitness identification procedures.
Wells is a past President of the American Psychology-Law Society and has received
Distinguished Contributions awards from the American Psychology-Law Society and
the American Psychological Association. In 2008 Wells was awarded an honorary
doctorate from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
(More information at http://cogsci.msu.edu/DSS/2008-2009/)
Lecture will be open to the public and free of charge
Refreshments will be served