Question...

How does the memory research of Elizabeth Loftus on eyewitness testimony affect the credibility of NT documents?

Evangelical apologists like McDowell are notorious for assuming that eyewitness reports -- esp. those allegedly found in the New Testament -- must either be truthful or based upon lies. Yet anyone familiar with ongoing, experimental research in psychology on the nature of eyewitness testimony knows that an honest observer can be sincerely wrong. Reflecting on a case in which a Catholic priest had been falsely convicted of armed robbery on the basis of eyewitness testimony -- only later to be acquitted thanks to a confession by the actual criminal -- renown psychologist Elizabeth Loftus writes, "Implicit in the acceptance of this testimony as solid evidence is the assumption that the human mind is a precise recorder and storer of events. Unfortunately it is not.... To be mistaken about details is not the result of a bad memory, but of the normal functioning of human memory. As we have seen, human remembering does not work like a videotape recorder or a movie camera." As D.F. Hall points out, "[N]ew, misleading information is not only added to memory, it actually alters the content of what the subject is able to remember." The upshot is that even honest eyewitnesses who try to be objective may in fact remember misinformation.

The results of experimental research on the nature of eyewitness testimony are especially important when considering the more extravagant empirical claims of the New Testament, yet McDowell makes things easy for himself by assuming that eyewitness testimony should be taken at face value. Factors like the retention interval (how much time was there between the incident and the witness' recollection of that incident?), focus (what captured the attention of the witness?), and especially post-event information (what post-event information could have supplemented the witness' memory?) and unconscious transference (confusing a person seen in one situation with a person actually seen in another situation) are, so far as I know, never addressed by McDowell in any of his writings; yet these are precisely the issues which he needs to deal with if we are to accept as factual the 'eyewitness reports' given in the New Testament and elsewhere.

My approach here is to:

• Make some brief observations on the above passage.
• Make some framework remarks about 'eyewitness testimony' and the NT
• Make a few comments about the nature and applicability of her work, relative to our study.
• Go through Loftus' book Eyewitness Testimony [Harvard: 1979,1996] chapter by chapter.
• Make some observations from memory research studies in the Learning model (as opposed to the Witness model)
• Summarize the issues/contributions to 'apologetic' work re: the eyewitness issue and NT credibility.

Throughout the piece I will try to apply this to the gospel accounts (without being TOO detailed and extensive!), to assess relevance to the question at hand--"to what extent is the credibility of the NT modified by these studies?"
............................................................................................

• Some brief observations on the above passage:
1. It is obvious to all that 'honest observers can be wrong'. I am not sure why this would be controversial--the main line of attack (and the most naively powerful one) of the philosophical skeptic is to start with the question "have you ever been wrong before?" or "have you ever been wrong about a memory before?". The possibility that I COULD be wrong in the future, and the actuality that I HAVE BEEN wrong in the future, however, does not have any logical connection to WHETHER I am wrong now. [There are factors that would SUGGEST that I might be wrong now, such as frequency of false memories, pathological brain conditions, wishful thinking, etc.]


As we will see in how the courts are using (and how Loftus recommends we use) expert testimony as to how "honest observers can be wrong", the Courts do not count these research findings as EVIDENCE of a mistaken identification, but as 'education' to help a jury DECIDE if an identification is reliable. The Loftus research material on various types of memory distortions [hereafter designated as "loftux"] is admitted to the court for 'educational' purposes, and NOT to 'prejudice' the jury about a specific identification.

2. It should be obvious to all that memory is NOT a videotape, even though it seems to function that way on occasions. It does have a core reliability (or we could never even DETECT memory problems!!), that works at least "51% accurately over an average of 51% of the time" or better. Memory is actually more robust that videotape, in that experiences are storied with a much wider range of sense data (e.g. smell, touch) and with affective response data (i.e. "I remember feeling sick at that scene in 'Captain Kangaroo meets Godzilla'" or "Derek was pulling my ears during the credits of 'Lassie IX: the Final Battle;").


[There is some data, however, that DOES INDICATE that memory functions as comprehensively as a 'videotape'--albeit semantically coded. The studies of Wilder Penfield in the 40's (noted and dismissed by Loftus at ET:115-117) and the arguments of M.B. Arnold (Memory and the Brain, Erlbaum:1984) more recently bear on this. But our point here is simply to grant this for practical reasons. In any event, the NT documents are literary creations and as such are selective in the material presented--unlike a videotape.]

3. It should be obvious to most, that memories CAN get 'corrupted' or 'modified.' Most of us have had the experience of remembering rooms when we were kids to have been much BIGGER than we see them as adults. But, by the same token, some memories can be reinforced and made resistant to change, so this remains only a possibility until something actually 'works on' the memory.
4. I cannot imagine anyone (especially 'evangelical apologists'!) who would accept all eyewitness testimony 'at face value'. We routinely assess the 'credibility' of the witness (generally) and the 'reliability' of the report/identification (specifically) when confronted with this issue. The credibility of the witness has always been a strong argument in favor of the apologist. The two facts of: (1) the vast majority of 'testable' claims in the NT have proven to the accurate--well beyond the 50% 'guessing' chance--and (2) the variation in the accounts 'appearing to be' multiple eyewitness accounts of the events themselves lends the normal credibility associated with eyewitness testimony.


[We shall see later that these two facts: (1) credibility of an eyewitness and (2) any corroborating data are the two strongest legal points from which to make a judicial decision.]

5. I would HOPE that it is obvious to everyone that 'extravagant claims' are critically dependent on the credibility of the witness, and the factors we will look at below in loftux. I don't believe very many miracles stories at all, and most of the ones I DO accept are in the Bible--which I have confidence in for OTHER reasons!
6. The four factors mentioned in the posting above are discussed (with all the others) below. The four mentioned in the post, however, can be summarized briefly:
1. Retention: the time between the perceiving of an event and the time of retrieval of the memory of that event. For example, Peter was told that he would betray Christ in the early evening; several hours later he "remembered" Christ's prophesy (Mt 26.75). There is an overnite case in Mark ll.21, a several days interval in Luke 24.8, and a couple of years (?) in Acts 11.16. Many of the events in Christ's life, in training the disciples, however, are essentially cases of 'immediate retrieval'. The disciples discuss the parables, or he teaches them to the disciples again in private. Jesus appears resurrected and forces them to 'retrieve that memory' the numerous times He appears to them over the next 40 days or so.
2. Focus: what the person pays attention to in a scene. In loftux, this is narrowed to 'weapon focus'--the large share of attention a gun or knife gets in a crime. We obviously do not have much of this in the case of the Gospels. In the case of Jesus, most of the non-weapon focus is 'controlled' by Him. He, as teacher, set the 'focus agenda' and steered most of the experiences and interpretations himself. In a very real sense, though, He and His mission were the focus.
3. Post-event information: this concerns information that the person acquires AFTER the event has been perceived. This information can alter the 'original' memory in many ways. Post-event information (PEI) that is supplied can get 'smuggled into' the original memory so that the person believes that PEI was actually experienced as part of the original event. The PEI could be true data (but it becomes 'remembered' data rather than 'believed') or false data. For example, theoretically, Jesus could have told the disciples about something that happened to them earlier (but which they did not ACTUALLY remember), and under this principle, that data would be incorporated into their memories as a memory--not simply as a 'belief' about the past. The fact itself, when retold by them, would be a true fact; but they would be wrong in believing it to be a memory.


This introduces a subtlety into the issue, because the gospels do not actually assert that all of the data contained in them are memories of the individual author. Instead, they assert that the facts are accurate, and in some cases, experienced by the authors (e.g. Matthew's call or John at the last supper). There is no statement, for example, that the writers remembered all the material themselves--without use of sources. (Of course, Luke specifically researched his material, including eyewitness materials from others 1.1-4.) So, this principle will need to be looked at carefully as to applicability. In fact, one of the main 'carriers' of post-event information--discussion among witnesses--may be one of the stronger reasons to give the finished literary accounts high credibility.
 
 

[There are several other factors that we will examine as we go through the chapter, as well.]
 
 
• Some framework remarks about 'eyewitness testimony' and the NT.
• It should be noted that eyewitness testimony was the preferred method of historical verification in antiquity. This is amply confirmed from ancient writers--personal visual knowledge, i.e. eyewitness evidence (autopsia) was thought the most reliable historical source. (Herodotus 2.99; Polybius 12.27.1-6; 20.12.8; Lucian History 47)
• Eyewitness testimony today is still accorded the highest status. And, in spite of significant misunderstandings about it by the public (ET:171-177), it is certainly considered preferred by the courts as very, very important evidence.
• The issue in eyewitness testimony is NOT whether or not it is useful, but how reliable it is. It is not a matter of "is it 100% reliable or none?"; but rather "to what extent is it reliable?" It is interesting that even Loftus is opposed to barring unreliable testimony from the courtroom. So ET:191:

Outright exclusion of unreliable testimony and requirement of corroboration are not ideal solutions because they take the decision out of the hands of the jury and might prevent the conviction of many who are truly guilty.

The Supreme Court (in the USA) for example, has repeatedly upheld this type of data and in 1977 (Manson vs. Brathwaite, ET:185-186) stated that "reliability is the linchpin" in terms of admissibility of such evidence.
• What claims does the NT make about eyewitness testimony?


Not a lot, actually. Although there are many, many references to the legal use of eyewitness testimony (e.g. the Mosaic requirement of two witnesses, the trials of Jesus), the NT itself only makes a couple of references to it in regards to the content and/or production of the gospels:

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. (luke 1.1ff)

The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. (John 19.35)

This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. (John 21.24)

We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2 Pet 1.16)

Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection." (Acts 1.21)

God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. (Acts 2.32)

You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. (Act 3.15)

The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead -- whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. 32 We are witnesses of these things... (Acts 5.30f)

You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached -- 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. 39 "We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen -- by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. (Acts 10.37ff)

The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. 28 Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people. (Acts 13.27)

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. (I Cor 15.15f).

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings (I Peter 5.1)

So, the claims of the NT relative to eyewitness testimony is rather general and rather broad. The apostolic circle, esp. the leadership of Peter and John, claims to be witnesses of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. This is a broad range, but the apostolic claims above can be listed as:
• "the things that have been fulfilled among us"
• "it" (the blood and water pouring from the pierced side of Christ on the cross)
• "these things" (the things narrated in the gospel of John)
• "the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ"
• "his resurrection" (with some 'backward reference' to the life of Christ since the baptism of John)
• "the fact" (that God raised Jesus from the dead)
• "you killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead"
• "these things" (death by crucifixion, resurrection, exaltation)
• "everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem" (includes 'doing good and healing')
• (resurrection)
• "Christ's sufferings"

Although most of these references point to the Passion narratives (and the distribution of material in the Gospels reflects this emphasis), it can be seen that the life and public ministry of Jesus is not excluded from these claims--especially the reference at the end of John. We can see then that Luke and John are rather explicit in their appeal to eyewitness testimony, and the preaching of Peter (that is generally understood to be the basis for the gospel of Mark) makes consistent appeal to eyewitness testimony.

Now, when we look at the traditions of the early Christian writers about the gospels, they are virtually unanimous about the 'traditional' authorship claims:

• the Gospel of Matthew was written by the apostle Matthew/Levi, and hence much of the material in his gospel would have been eyewitness testimony, plus supplemental material would likely have come from eyewitness testimony from OTHER members of the apostolic circle.
• The Gospel of Mark was traditionally ascribed to John Mark who 'wrote down' the speeches/sermons of Peter. With Peter's emphasis on 'witness', it is likely that the entire gospel was supposed to be understood as an apostolic 'eyewitness' testimony.
• The Gospel of Luke does NOT purport to be an eyewitness account itself, but rather to be a careful and well-researched history. It uses eyewitness material, but states that it attempts to be 'critical' and insure accuracy.
• John makes explicit claim to being an eyewitness to much of the material, but would also be dependent on supplemental material at times (i.e. the conversation of the Samaritan woman inside the city in John 4).

 

 

In the case of Matthew and John, the vast majority of the material described would have been seen by the authors as full participants and agents in the events. They would not have been 'bystanders' who simply witnessed very brief scenes. In the case of Mark, the stories would have come from a similar, full-participant source (i.e. Peter).

In the case of Luke, the large amount of 'shared story' with the gospels of Matthew and Mark, would have a similar character, but Luke apparently supplemented the material from other members of the apostolic circle and Judean religious (e.g. Anna), giving rise to what is called 'lukan redactions' or distinctives.

The Birth and pre-Baptist narratives are a special case. They were recorded in Matthew and Luke, and the source of this data would easily have been Mary and the younger brothers of Jesus (e.g James). Mary and Jesus' brothers were in the room at Pentecost (Acts 1.14ff), and Mary probably was associated with the apostles until her death (John 19.27). This would have been an eyewitness account as well; again, by major participants in the events.

So, although the content of the gospels are easily associated with eyewitness testimony, the actual authors of the gospels do not often make claims to that effect.

But let's consider how the Christian 'apologist' uses the eyewitness issue. In my own writings, I use the phenomena of the accounts (e.g. replete with detail, different details noticed, differences in data selected for presentation, non-salient details present) to argue for eyewitness 'status' of the accounts embedded in the gospels (not the gospels themselves, but the various sub-units or blocks of material). The establishment of eyewitness 'status' of much of this material does several things for the apologist: (1) it gives the content of the material the higher credibility often associated with eyewitness testimony; (2) it bridges the time-gap between the events themselves and the earliest existent mss. (now somewhere around 85ad); (3) it makes sense of the non-uniform character of the accounts--the legitimacy of the 'harmonization' enterprise; (4) it differentiates between these narratives and the un-witnessed myths/"heroes" of antiquity; and (5) it precludes the 'fraud' accusation by pegging the accuracy of the resultant documents to the integrity of the earliest, a-political church (admittedly better than the post-Constantine church).

So, my apologetic use of this could be weakened by a couple of tactics:

1. One could argue that the phenomena of the texts DO NOT indicate 'eyewitness' character (e.g. that the historical details are so confused (not just one or two problems) as to be indicative of 'bad fiction').
2. One could argue that 'eyewitness' status does NOT give the narratives any higher credibility than other types of writing (e.g. fables, 3rd-hand anecdotes).
3. One could argue that OTHER competing documents had the same level of 'eyewitness' credibility as the NT (e.g. miracles of Dionysius).

Options One and Three are generally not argued (although occasionally one complains about Mark's bad geography). The question that started this (above) is obviously going after Option Two.

Now, for such a tactic to succeed any discrediting information about ET (eyewitness testimony) must be about the kinds of ET that occur in the NT. For example, if a research study showed that people could not adequately distinguish between clown faces, seen only underwater, while wearing 3-D glasses, this would have virtually no relevance for the NT situation. This issue will become critical as we look at the specific research in loftux. Which leads to our next topic...
 
 

• A few comments about the nature and applicability of her work, relative to our study.


Loftus gives a concise statement of the situation under study at ET:86:

"In the typical eyewitness situation, or even the typical memory experiment, a subject is presented with information once; his memory or recollection is tested at a later time, perhaps on several occasions."

Let me summarize the major discontinuities between Loftus work and the NT situation up-front:
1. The time of exposure is RADICALLY different. In the situations described/studied by Loftus, the amount of time the test subject actually EXPERIENCED/SAW the material to be remembered was minuscule compared the the exposure of the NT writers.


Of the research studies described in ET (with duration times given in the text), the exposures ranged from a HIGH of 11 minutes to a LOW of one-tenth of a second! [The times were: 11m, 7m, 5m, 3m (2x), 2m (2x), 1.5m, 1m, 42s (3x), 34s, 32s, 12s, 10s, 8s, 5s, 4s (2x), 2s, 0.1s.] This is not even remotely analogous to men and women who grew up in Galilee or Judea, who lived with Jesus for 3-years, who participated in the major events of his life. A quick look at a list of the events in Christ's life shows that the events recorded had duration times measured in hours and days. Faulty memory performance from people who see a 1 minute video of an accident simply have no bearing on the NT situation! The research results (although fascinating) are simply irrelevant to our issue.

2. Most of the work done in the ET book is concerned with identification of a suspect in a legal context. As such it deals often with 'person recognition', and a whole chapter is devoted to the special problems associated with it. It should be obvious that this bears no relationship to the NT situation either.
3. Most of the studies also involved VERY small amounts of given information, with, correspondingly huge gaps in the 'given'. Exposure times were not only small, but the information content often was limited to small pieces of literature (e.g. 150 words, 750 words) or small groups of slides (e.g. 30). Many of the studies focused on showing that people tended to 'fill in the gaps' in their memory with guessing and implicit clues from later questioners. This is obviously irrelevant to NT studies. We have the opposite problem in NT studies: we have an overabundance of data of experience (i.e. three years of day-to-day contact with Jesus), but only a subset of it gets recorded in the accounts!
4. The vast majority of the studies involve the use of deliberate deception and manipulation on the part of the researchers. The procedure is often characterized in terms of 'minimal exposure (time) to minimal information (huge gaps), followed by misleading information'. The misleading information came through the use of questions, word-choices, pictures, etc., all from implicitly authoritative sources (the researchers). These studies are then used to show that memory is not 'videotape'; since it can be manipulated by clever and subtle agents, then it is less trustworthy than is perhaps thought.


Here we have some relevance. Although we don't have the situation of a deliberate manipulator, the possibility exists that the same 'misleading' clues might be present from other sources (e.g. innocent listeners, hostile polemical opponents). The vast majority of the conclusions would not apply, since the subtlety levels are so pronounced, but there may be some overlap with our case.

5. The experimental exposures are very sensation-deprived. In other words, the experience is generally confined to one media type--literature, visual, auditory. Rarely do they have the redundant, self-correcting, and reinforcing sensation-streams that would be associated with sitting on a Galilean hillside on a hot day listening to the Sermon on the Mount. The restricted scope of the experimental experiences is, again, radically different than the data-rich experiences of living, travelling, and interacting with the Master.
6. There are no 'feedback' loops in Loftus' studies. There are no methods by which incorrect memories are detected and eliminated by the subject. The common experiences we all have of realizing that a memory is mistaken--by correction/learning/further data/repeated experiences--demonstrate that this is an important component of the trustworthiness of our real-world memory. This kinds of feedback mechanisms are NOT present at all in Loftus, but would have been extremely prevalent in the case of the NT.


The gospels are largely group or collaborative works. This means that the problem of multiple witnesses discussing a common experience--which in memory issues can create 'false' memories in some of the witnesses--actually reduces the likelihood of the group publishing false data. A feedback/corrective loop--of the highest possible rigor actually--exists in the case of the written output of the group. So, the absence of this consideration in Loftus--although not a methodological flaw in her research goal--makes it tenuous at best to apply to the case of the gospel authors.

7. Finally, there is the issue of the Teacher. In Loftus' studies, the subjects are basically operating alone--they have no coaches (except misleading ones!). In the gospels accounts, the disciples have a very active and consistent teacher--Jesus. The paradigm for their experiences is NOT that of a victim in a crime, nor of a witness to an accident (the vast majority of loftux research situations), but that of student of a rabbi. Teaching is directed experience--not isolated events without clues. The models are thus radically different in this core aspect as well.

 

 

The above factors should already convince us of the irrelevance of Loftus' work (however fascinating and incisive) to the question of NT eyewitness credibility. The differences between the two situations is simply too fundamental: exposure time, exposure goal, data poverty of the experience, deliberate manipulation and deception, media-poverty, absence of feedback/corrective mechanisms, the basic nature of the experiences themselves.
 
 
• Loftus' book Eyewitness Testimony [Harvard: 1979,1996] chapter by chapter.


Chapter One: Mistaken Identity

This chapter simply frames the question with an example, and raises the basic question. "How is it that a witness can get a poor glimpse, have little confidence in his future ability to make an accurate identification, and yet ultimately make a positive identification?...is it possible that the reliability of eyewitness testimony is systematically overestimated by the courts?...eyewitness testimony is not always reliable." (page 6-7). This quote certainly suggests the limitation of scope I mentioned above ("a poor glimpse"), and yet in stating that ET is not "always" reliable, still affirms the general reliability of ET.

Chapter Two: The Impact of ET.

This chapter documents how important jurors and the courts consider ET. It is accorded such high status--in spite of the limitations she will show later. It is indicative, I might comment, that we depend on our community-nature so much for the vast majority of information we get (e.g. parents, teachers, reference materials), that it is fundamentally expected that ET would be basically and generally trustworthy.

Chapter Three: Perceiving Events.

Here we get into the meat...ET delineates the three phases/stages of memory: acquisition, retention, retrieval (p.21). The acquisition of the memory ("perceiving") is the first stage, and the accuracy of what is stored depends on both EVENT factors and WITNESS factors.

EVENT factors:

1. Exposure time. ET points out that 'longer events' and longer exposure to an event demonstrably improves accuracy (p. 23). For our purposes, this would ENHANCE the credibility of the NT, since the events described in the gospels were generally "long" events (relative to the brief exposure times in the experiments), with long exposure times for the disciples. [ET studies cited were 10 seconds and 32 seconds in exposure duration.]
2. Frequency. ET points out that this is so obvious that no studies are done on it. It is "commonsense" (p. 24) that the more times you experience something (e.g. the face of Jesus, Galilee, His often repeated sayings and teachings) the more accurate your memory is. This would also support the NT credibility (generally) even of repeated-miracles (e.g. healings, feedings).
3. Detail Salience. This principle simply says that people have better recall about important elements of the experience, as opposed to inconsequential or 'background' data. [The ET study was 2 minutes of exposure.] Strangely enough, the principle she sets forth on page 27 (citing Gardner):

"The extraordinary, colorful, novel, unusual, and interesting scenes attract our attention and hold our interest, both attention and interest being important aids to memory. The opposite of this principle is inversely true--routine, commonplace and insignificant circumstances are rarely remembered as specific incidents."

actually supports the memory accuracy of the miracles! In other words, first-hand eyewitnesses to the miracles of Jesus, the colorful parables, the confrontational images, their consistent 'astonishment' and the powerful words of the Teacher (cf. the guards in John 7.45ff: Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?" 46 "No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared. ) are MORE likely to accurately remember them! What a strange place for support of the accuracy of these accounts!

[Notice, however, that this factor does not support or obligate us to believe the vast amount of 'miraculous' stories of the ancient demigods, since these stories are normally not couched in "history-looking", eyewitness-looking, feedback-system-looking accounts. ]

4. Type of Fact. Some aspects of memory are consistently 'off', and the ones she mentions are in the category of quantitative measurement. [The ET studies were for 34s and 42s.] Consistent mistakes about the height of an individual (in inches), or of vehicle speed (in mph) is described (p. 27f). This would have no relevance, since we don't have precise attempts at measurement in the gospel accounts. We have Zaccheus as a "wee little man" , or John outrunning Peter to the tomb, but few references that could be considered attempts at precision.
5. Violence of an Event. Researchers do not know why, but the violence of an event sometimes decreases retention (p31). (The current theory is that it is related to stress and attention-dilution.) Wheras this is obviously very relevant to criminal situations, we have limited cases of violence (of the sudden sort) in the gospels. We have some fiery words thrown about between Jesus and the Pharisees, we have one violent action in the Garden of Gethsemane, we have the 'slow violence' of the beheading of John the Baptist and the Crucifixion of the Lord, but nothing that would compare to the studies of ET.

 

 

So the Event Factors are generally irrelvant to our question, with the possible exception of one that SUPPORTS the credibility of the accounts--the "Detail Salience" factor.

WITNESS factors in perception:

1. Stress. This factor is the principle that stress dilutes our ability to 'pay attention' to what is going on around us. Stress, however, has been shown to be a little like a 'bell curve': as stress in a situation increases, so too does our attention to detail--up to a point, after which our ability to pay attention decreases thereafter. [The studies mentioned were (a) mice after electrical shock--surely similar to the gospel authors(!); and (b) 4 second exposure for humans.] A special case of this is called 'weapon focus' in which the observer fixates on the weapon, and misses other background variables (p. 35). This principle is generally irrelevant to NT--since there would be very few situations in which stress would have have been so high as to affect their PERCEPTUAL ABILITY. But, there would be a number of situations in which stress would have been heightened--with perhaps an increase in attention. For example, the confrontation with the Pharisees or the Garden Scene. (The stress/discouragement between the death and resurrection period conceivably COULD be an issue in perceiving the Risen Jesus, but the factors of familiarity and frequency of exposure discussed below pretty well preclude this.)
2. Expectations. This factor relates to the reality that what we expect to see can influence what we actually think we saw. ET uses the example of a hunting accident, in which some mistake a friend for a deer and shoot him, hearing his cries for help as 'deer cries' (p.36). Loftus discusses 4 types of expectations:
1. Cultural stereotypes. Examples given in the text had to do with racial stereotypes and familiarity-steretypes (e.g. Red Cross trucks carry medical supplies, not explosives). [The study in ET had a subject exposed briefly to an ambiguous picture. They then called someone and related the picture to them, who in turn repeated it to another. This telephone-game experiment involved seven subjects, with no subsequent view of the picture, and no correction/feedback in the chain.] I cannot think of a situation in which cultural stereotypes would have been operative in the gospels--largely due to Jesus' destruction of many of these! His use of women, Samaritans, non-Judaic locations, etc. would have had quite a shock value on the disciples' cultural expectations. Any 'wishful thinking' influences were dealt with rather quickly by Jesus (cf. Matt 20.20ff!).
2. From Past Experience. This is simply the basic principle of uniformity of nature. What has happened in the past, will happen in the future, so our memory of something can be 'corrected' by our expectations along these lines. As relates to the NT, I cannot help but note the radical discontinuities in the disciples' experiences under the leadership and tutelage of Jesus! For example, their messianic expectations were completely blown-away (Mt 16.10f); their expectations to avoid Jerusalem were shocked (John 11.16), and their belief in imminent judgment on the Romans (Acts 1.6) and 'sinners' was frustrated (Luke 9.54).
3. Personal Prejudices. The example give in ET was of two opposing teams' understanding of events within a football game, especially in the "value laded" terms (e.g. unnecessary, malicious). Now, in the case of the NT, one could see how these might be an issue, for we know that Galileans and Pharisees did not 'get along' well. But, since most of these are subjective aspects of memory (e.g. the other person's intentions or attitudes), the incidences of situations in the NT in which these MIGHT be operative, are fortunately corroborated by real detail, sayings, and events in the narrative. For example, when the gospel writers describe the opposition of some of the Jewish leadership, it is not stated as simply an attitude (which could have been due to this factor), but it is related to 'tangibles' such as decisions to cast out of the synagogue, public fear of the populace about talking about Jesus in their presence, the deal with Judas, or the mob-persuasion tactics. In other words, the history itself can be used to 'check the allegations' in this case.
4. Temporary Biases. [The first ET study was of ten items, each displayed for one-tenth of a second to observers.] This principle concerns the fact that we resolve ambiguity on the basis of expectations, in the absence of other data (p.43f). These are situation-specific expectations. [The second study was a 7 minute video clip.] This is another case of situations involving too-little data. The studies had large amounts of uncertainty and ambiguity involved--a situation that would not have been the case in the evangelists' experiences of the scenes in Jesus' ministry. Not only did he frequently explain things to his disciples (resolving ambiguity, cf. 'sower' in Mark 4.34: But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything. ), but he set their expectations in advance (cf. 'he began to teach them that he would die..' Mt 16.21ff).

 

 

Overall, the expectations of the disciples' were some of the MAJOR "TARGETS" of Jesus! He was constantly trying to get them to 'open their eyes' and 'judge rightly'. In each of these areas, we have deliberate counter-measures by the Master Teacher to reduce/eliminate this issue.
3. Perceptual Activity. This concerns what all a person 'does' when they 'scan' a scene. [The ET experiment had people make 'judgments' about a face. Some were to judge 'simple' attributes such as sex or age; some were to judge 'deep' attributes such as honesty or character. Those who made 'deeper' assessments tended to have better performance in remembering the face later.] Strangely enough, this factor actually indicates that more people would recognize Jesus because the populace (and the disciples) were trying to make the 'deepest possible' decision about him--was He God's messiah?! In the Jewish world of the time, there would be fewer questions of such importance, urgency, and depth! This principle would argue that more people would remember Jesus (at least his face) than not, and this principle might generalize to His message as well--as they tried to judge it as 'being from God or from man'.
4. Having pre-knowledge about an up-coming event. This factor says that having some knowledge of what is ABOUT to happen, or of the seriousness of it, can affect the memory performance. For example, pre-knowing that something about to happen is 'serious' INCREASES the accuracy of memory (p.50). [The ET study involved only a few seconds of exposure to a thief. ] The study results were summarized by Loftus (p50):

"Thus, these investigators have found that the perceived seriousness of a crime--in this case advance knowledge of the value of a stolen item--can be a significant determinant of accuracy in eyewitness identification."

In the case of the gospel writers, this has limited value since it is dealing with identification/recognition of a person, and, as usual, the data-poverty of the experiment reduces its utility to NT issues. However, if pre-knowledge of the seriousness/value of an object DOES increase accuracy (in general), then the perceived/expected "national salvation of the Jews"--embodied in the person of the Messiah--would make most of the events in the ministry of Jesus into 'serious' events for His disciples as observers. This factor might actually enhance the credibility of their testimony..
 
 
Chapter Four: Retaining Information in Memory

In this chapter, Loftus describes the many and/or subtle changes that can 'happen' to a memory between the experience and later recall of that experience (p52-53): "The time between a complex experience and a witness's recollection of that experience is a crucial period. Both the length of this retention interval and the events that take place during it affect a witness's testimony."

ET then discusses these two factors: (1) retention interval; and (2) post-event information from experiences.

• Retention Interval. "It is by now a well-established fact that people are less accurate and complete in their eyewitness accounts after a long retention interval than a short one." (p.53).


[The ET study involved an exposure time of 42 seconds. A different study had a 'single exposure' (of unknown, but brief duration) and the subjects were tested at 2 hours, 3 days, 1 week, 4 months and one year! (at 4 months they still had 57% recall!).]

Although the exposure events in these studies are very, very data-poor, there may be some value in asking the question of the NT narrative data--how long from "experience" to "preaching" . Granted, the collaborate nature of the literary production would have had the many checks and balances implicit in a minimum of eleven, long-term eyewitnesses, but what WOULD the retention interval for a single individual have been?

Let's consider several sets of material:

1. The public words and message of Jesus.


The retention interval here is measured in minutes, hours, and days. The disciples 'discussed' His sayings among themselves routinely (cf. Matt 16.7-8; Mark 9.10; Luke 24.15). They were actually called on to preach His message at least twice during the ministry of Jesus: the sending of the Twelve (Matt 10 ) and the sending of the Seventy (Luke 10). [On the other hand, there is a very strong possibility that Matthew took shorthand notes during some of the sermons. This is known to have been easy for the former tax-collector, and known to be the practice of rabbinical students. Use of recorded media, of course, takes the entire discussion out of the realms of 'memory' research altogether.]

It must also be remembered here [assuming we can do it quickly and without significant memory distortion ;>) ] that the gospels rarely attempt to reproduce the exact wording of Jesus. Rather, they give us the exact "voice" of Jesus. [Scholarship distinguishes between the ipsissima verba (the exact same words) and the ipsissima vox (the exact same saying or voice). Many of the exact words (probably in Aramaic) are 'recoverable' in the 'vox' by careful reverse translation from the NT Greek into a Galilean version of Western Aramaic. For detail on method and examples, see J. Jeremias, New Testament Theology, Scribners:1971, pp. 1-29.] Ancient writers, like their modern counterparts, used paraphrase, summary, re-ordering of original speeches--within the constraints of fidelity to meaning [see BLOM for a full discussion of the options available].

2. The miracles and movements of Jesus.


The more "spectacular" of these were discussed by all audiences (disciples, populace, enemies) so recall would have been immediate, or days at the latest. Stories, of course, would have circulated outside the disciples' circles--perhaps leading to distortion--in oral form, but the disciples themselves had the feedback mechanism present among them.

Even the more 'mundane' of tasks recounted by the gospels were charged with spiritual significance by Jesus. So, the anointing of His feet by the woman (luke 7.36) is charged with meaning in the confrontation with the Pharisee host, and the small gift of the widow (Mark 12.42ff) is 'turned on its head' by Jesus before his disciples.

The exact 'travelogue' of the various trips Jesus made are not given in chronological sequence (or at least not stated as such by the authors). Individual segments would have been more memorable than others, especially the ones into 'gentile' lands (e.g. area around Tyre, the Decapolis, or cities in Philip's territory). Since many (if not most) of these individual segment descriptions are 'embedded' in the narrative of some related significant event (e.g. the Syro-Phonecian woman in Mark 7.24ff), they would share the memory-accuracy associated with THOSE events.

3. The Passion Narrative.


This section of material is of course the most vivid and detailed of all the gospel material. This material is almost immediately recalled (e.g. the discussion on the way to Emmaus in Luke 24.13ff), is actually discussed as it is occurring (e.g. the questions in the Upper Room accounts), is explained by the Risen Jesus over the 40 days between the Cross and the Ascension (cf. Luke 24.44ff; ), and is immediately preached at Pentecost by Peter and the group. They begin declaring Jesus to be 'mighty in word and deed' and the proclamation begins...

There is also strong scholarly support for Rudolph Pesch's prodigious work arguing that the pre-Marcan Passion Narrative had to have been 'formalized' in the Jerusalem church no later than 37 AD [GAG:109]. This would have pushed the actual development of the material even closer to its occurrence in 33-34ad. This would necessitate immediate recall and consistent rehearsal, which is indeed what history records of the earliest church activity in Acts.

4. The Resurrection Accounts.


This is also the very core of the apostolic preaching, and was the subject of immediate recall and interpretation after the event. Jesus literally taught them during this period (Acts 1.3): After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. . The apostolic preaching forty days after the first Easter was centered on the fact that "God raised Jesus from the dead". Retention was again immediate, frequent, and widespread. Also note that the resurrection appearances were never private--they were always to groups (with the awesome and endearing exception of Mary Magdalene), which would have created feedback/control/correction mechanisms.
 
 

So the retention interval does not appear to be a significant issue for our purpose.
• Post-Event Information (PEI)--from others.


Loftus discusses here a number of ways in which our original memories can be distorted through the influence of PEI.

1. Enhancing memory. [The ET study was a one-minute film of a 4 second accident.] This comes up in legal cases where multiple witnesses 'discuss the event' before police arrive. In this setting, comments made by one witness can turn into 'memories' of another witness who had not noticed that detail. The issue is not whether the detail is true or not; only whether it is thought to be a 'memory'. So ET:56: "Thus, by simply mentioning an existing object, it is possible to increase the likelihood that it will be recalled later on."


This very probably happened in the post-event discussions of the disciples--deliberately. As they would discuss among themselves what Jesus meant by some statement (e.g. Mark 8.15), or who Jesus must 'be' after some miracle (e.g. Matt 8.23ff), no doubt their BELIEFS about the event would have been enhanced. They may have believed that they experienced the 'additional' material, but it is quite irrelevant to our study here. The gospel writers are putting forth what happened--not claiming that they are ONLY relying on personal experience. Far from being a reason to question the accuracy of the accounts, the shared experiences of the disciples, as a corrective, would have added much more accuracy and reliability to the literary product, than they MIGHT have confused an author about whether the recounted detail was strictly a memory or a believed-fact (irrespective of source). In this case, composite belief/knowledge about an event is what matters--NOT composite 'memories'.

This is a prime case of where the Teacher/Learning model is more appropriate than the Observer/Victim model. Jesus did not leave such composite beliefs to chance; He was ALWAYS confronting them with their questions and statements, forcing them to abandon false views and adopt correct perspectives (cf. Mark 9.33ff; Luke 9.52ff), and trying to get them to reflect on their memories correctly. Compare Matt 6.5ff:

When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6 "Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." 7 They discussed this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn't bring any bread." 8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? 11 How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." 12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Notice also that the group belief about an event was supposed to be modified by the individual contributors to the discussion, and that these contributors would have been relying on their memory at the beginning of the conversation. This means that PEI would not be operative as an issue at the end of this point. The discussion of the various 'memories' would have resulted in a composite belief about the event, which each contributor would have taken away with him or her. In all probability, they were likely able to distinguish between THEIR contribution to the composite-view and the views of the others, at least for the details that stood out most in their minds originally.
2. Compromise Memories. This is where data that contradicts the original event, when seen LATER, causes the subject to 'change' or in some cases 'blend' the incompatible sets of data. [The ET studies were (1) a 3 minute film followed by misleading information; and (2) 30 slides of 3 seconds each, followed by misleading information.] This is a case of 'interference', in which a credible source (the researcher) gives misleading information via questionnaire or other clues. In the case of the NT authors, not only is it unclear where 'contradictory data' would COME FROM, but there simply is no other source with credibility as high or higher than their own experiences or Jesus! In fact, the presence of opposing data SEEMED to strengthen their position (a phenomena we will see later is supported by Loftus).


It should also be mentioned that this is a different situation than when the apostles had to 'translate' the Person of Jesus into foreign theological frameworks. That process is a translation process--not a memory issue.

3. Introducing Non-existent Objects. This is similar to the above but where compromise is impossible. [The ET study has the 30 slides again, and forces the subject to decide between a real stop-sign and a misleading yield-sign.] Again, here we have deliberate misleading through contradictory data--a situation of limited relevance to the evangelists.


It should also be remarked here that the vast majority of details that are 'distorted' in these studies are very, very minor ones (e.g. color, distance, age), and in the case of the NT these kinds of salient details are the very details that we have outside historical and/or archeological confirmation of!

4. Central versus Peripheral Details. This issue has to do with to what extent misleading PEI can alter salient details versus the peripheral ones. [The ET study was 3 video clips, totaling 11 minutes, followed by misleading information.] The results are surprisingly supportive of the gospel accounts, which are often criticized for containing 'only' salient details! So, ET:63:

"The results indicated that salient or central items were recalled with significantly greater accuracy and were much more difficult to alter with misleading information than were peripheral items...

"Thus we can conclude that it is harder to mislead a witness about important, salient, or central aspects of an event than about peripheral ones."

This strongly suggests that the gospel narratives--replete with 'salience' but often lacking the minutia that historians desire--would have been resistant to alteration during the early days of the apostles.
5. Timing of Post-Event-Info (PEI). [ET study was 30 slides of 3 seconds each with misleading information (above).] This factor highlights the fact that misleading information is most effective when the original memory has been given a chance to fade/weaken (p. 66). The implications for our study is negligible. In the case of the apostles, they would have begun reinforcing their memories through repetition (a memory strengthening technique) long before any inconsistent data would have been strong enough to make a dent. In other words, as time went on, the memories got stronger not weaker, rendering this factor of negligible force for our situation.


[By the way, the study also pointed out that if the PEI were consistent with the original, then memory performance is actually enhanced--a situation that would have occurred within the apostolic band (p.66).]

6. "One Year Later". [This was a study involving students who read a 750-word description of a scene, were subsequently shown a misleading postcard picture, and then tested for accuracy at times of 3-4 days, a month later, and a year later!--talk about data-poor! (p.68+) And, "surprise, surprise"--their inaccuracy was much higher at one year!] This retention interval is way out of line for out NT situation, as we noted above.
7. Subjective Recollections can change. [The ET study was a 3 minute videotape, plus misleading questions, then recall one week later, for subjective responses to the videotape (p.70-71)] This factor shows that ambiguous data plus a value-laden 'leading the witness' questionnaire can influence the subjective elements ascribed to the scene (e.g. violent vs. peaceful). It is not at all clear to me that this has much relevance either. Jesus NEVER left anything 'un-interpreted' for His disciples--He was constantly trying to get them to see all the dimensions of the situation--both His own sayings (e.g. Mark 4.33f: "With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything. " ; cf. also Mark 4.10; 7.17-23; Mt 13.36; 15.15) as well as the circumstances (John 4.31ff: "Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something." 32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." 33 Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?" 34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, `Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. ").
8. Nonverbal Influences. This is just a special 'media' of misleading information. As such it is subject to the limitations of applicability noted above. [One of the two ET studies discussed concerned the non-verbal clues human lab researchers gave to rats. Those rats that were handled 'more positively' (presumably non-verbally) had better performance than those who weren't--another clear case of direct overlap with the gospel writers!!!]
9. Investigations by Police and Attorneys. This is simply a special case of misleading information through (inappropriate) interrogation techniques (p. 74-77). Apart from the situation of the apostles' being questioned by the Council in Acts 4--in which THE APOSTLES did most of the speaking(!)--this would not apply to the gospel writers. [It is absolutely critical to Loftus' purpose of the book however.]

 

 

• Post-Event Information (PEI)--from the witness' own thoughts.


This concerns known ways in which a witness's intervening thoughts about the event, can alter the original memory. Loftus points out that "the witness's own internal thoughts, wishes, and desires intruded during the (retention) interval" (p.80). ET discusses three of these ways.

1. Labeling. This is where a 'label' is supplied to a phenomenon (e.g. color) during the retention interval and this label subsequently causes a 'shift' in the content of the memory. I am not sure how this would apply to NT situations. [The ET studies dealt with 2-dimensional shapes and colors].
2. Guessing. This is where the subject 'fills in the gaps' in a memory with guesses (p. 82-83). [The ET study was of 25 slides for two seconds each, total time of 1 minute.] The conclusion of the studies: "The subjects who were asked to guess about the color of the (non-existent) stationwagon were more likely to think they had seen such a vehicle when asked later on...Control subjects who had not guessed about the stationwagon were less likely to think they had seen one." (p. 83) Notice that this actually involves misleading information as well, and the data-poor situation that contrasts with the events narrated in the gospels. I have maintained above that 'filling in the gaps' of a belief-scene is desirable from PEI, and is different than filling in the gaps of a memory-scene. In the case of a collaborative literary responsibility, and tons of corrective data, any 'incorrect guessing' would have been shot down quickly!
3. Freezing Effects. This is an important factor that bears on our theme somewhat. The principle is that once a memory is reported/recalled, it assumes greater permanence, resisting subsequent modification by PEI. If the first 'report' is accurate, we have greater permanence of the accurate narrative; if the first 'report' is inaccurate, we have greater permanence of the inaccurate narrative. [The ET study was a 150 word prose passage, after which students had to give a series of paraphrases/reports. (p. 85).] The strange thing about this result was that the first 'copy' of the original made by the students was often inaccurate, but all subsequent copies bore an amazing correspondence to the FIRST copy. "[A]ny one version bore a much greater resemblance to its immediate predecessor than either one of them bore to the original material. If only correct information persisted, this would be a fine result..." (p.85).


This has a rather interesting implication for gospel studies. It is well-known that oral transmission in Semitic cultures was very reliable, and this tends to support that. The fact that traveling singers and prophets could reproduce substantial works with very minimal variation over time makes perfect sense in light of this factor. And, in the case of the gospel stories, which would have had their first 'copy' made either during the life of Jesus (and under His training) or immediately after the ascension (and under the corporate oversight of a homogenous group), the implication is very supportive of the permanence of accurate reports! In other words, when you combine the various factors which would have contributed to the accurate retelling the FIRST TIME, with this factor that strongly supports subsequent fidelity to the FIRST "Copy" (i.e. the first 'retelling'), you get a situation in which high confidence in the accuracy of the early apostolic teaching is warranted!
 
 

This chapter had tremendous relevance to the legal system, but only limited relevance to the apostolic situation. Most of the factors actually SUPPORTED the reliability of the gospel writers (e.g. short retention intervals, PEI as a corrective in the literary production, stubbornness of salient details, freezing effects).

Chapter Five: Retrieving Information from Memory

Overall, this chapter will have little relevance to our NT situation, since the question in the chapter deals with various types of interrogation. The situation is one of a semi-passive witness, under questioning by the authorities (e.g. police, attorneys, judges). The NT situation, of course, is radically different: you either have preachers proclaiming the information, or writers authoring documents with the help of others, and/or under the oversight of others. Loftus discusses a number of issues under this topic:

• Retrieval Environment. [The ET study had an exposure time of 5 seconds.] This principle basically demonstrates that memory retrieval is most accurate if done in an identical/similar setting in which it was learned (p.89-90). Interestingly, this would actually support gospel reliability, since sources used by the gospel authors would have all originated in basically the same settings as the events (i.e. Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem). Preaching on the Mount (of the Sermon on the Mount) for example, would have aided memory, under this principle.
• Type of Retrieval. This concerned what types of questions are used to elicit retrieval/recall. Free narrative reports ("what did you see?") produced the most accurate, but the least complete, recall. [Notice how similar this would be to preaching and even the gospel literature. They are both very incomplete--relative to all the possible material--but quite accurate, to the best of our ability to verify detail.] Controlled narrative questions ("give us a description of what the assailant was wearing") produce less accurate, but more complete recall, and specific questions ("was the man wearing a green shirt?") was the most complete, but least accurate of the 'extraction' techniques. [The three ET studies were 5 mins, 2 mins, and 1min in exposure times.] For the gospel writers this is, again, very supportive. They would have 'lead with' the first type (e.g. the preaching in Acts), and then likely have gotten specific questions from an audience. This is the sequence that Loftus recommends for legal use of ET (p. 92-93).
• Question Wording. This is the 'leading question' issue that the courts have long recognized as being a problem (p. 97). It has no relevance to the gospel writers' "unsolicited preaching" situation.
• Who is asking the question? This factor explores memory performance under situations in which the questioner is either (1) of high status; or (2) is 'nice' in attitude. The status of the questioner produced more complete responses (without any improvement in accuracy) and the variation between 'hostile/likable' produced no effect whatsoever. [The ET study was a 42 second film.] Since the gospel dox were not done under questioning, this again is of negligible relevance. It is worth noting as a minor point that the hostile audiences that the apostles spoke to would not have affected their memory performance under this factor.
• Confidence. This is a fascinating issue. People tend to assume higher accuracy from witnesses who are more confident of their recollections, and the data--with exceptions and qualifications--supports this position. After surveying the various studies, Loftus summarizes this thus (p. 101):

"To reiterate, although there are many studies showing that the more confident a person is in a response, the greater the likelihood that the response is accurate, some studies have shown no relationship at all between confidence and accuracy. In fact, there are even conditions under which the opposite relation exists between confidence and accuracy..." (emphasis mine)

Notice that ET basically admits that confidence normally is associated with accuracy ("many" versus "some" versus "even conditions under which"). The "conditions under which" that Loftus refers to occur in studies in which misleading information was delivered at the most vulnerable time possible in the retention interval (p.101)! When you couple this basic principle with the observation that the apostles spoke with 'great boldness' and conviction/confidence (cf. Acts 4.39; 2.29; 9.28), you get an indication of greater accuracy.
• Knew-it-all-along-Effect. This is related to PEI, as well as the gap-filling, which we have already discussed above.
• Hypnosis and Recall. This is clearly not relevant to the gospel situations.


Thus we see that these interrogation issues are largely irrelevant to our gospel question, with some of the factors (i.e. retrieval environment, type of retrieval, confidence) actually enhancing the credibility of the gospel writers' memory.

Chapter Six: Theoretical Issues

In this chapter, Dr. Loftus explores the two competing models of memory. Most of it is too theoretical for our purpose, but there are two observations/conclusions she notes that might bear upon our situation:

1. "What happens when a witness receives some information that is blatantly contradictory to what was actually seen? An experiment I conducted indicates that witnesses will reject such information; furthermore, an attempt to introduce it can increase the likelihood that the witness will resist any misleading suggestions about other items that would ordinarily not be particularly immune to suggestion." (p.124).


The implication for the apostolic group is obvious: if someone tried to smuggle in some really bogus data, it would be rejected outright, and the source of that bogus data would lose the ability to smuggle in less-blatant aberrations.

2. "Further, subjects were better able to resist a suggestion about an item if they had initially been accurate on that item than if they had not" (p.126).


The implication for the apostolic group is: if their preaching were accurate the first time, then attempts (unconscious or conscious) to mislead them about that content would be much less affective.
 
 

Chapter Seven: Recognizing People

This chapter concerns the issue of recognizing faces, and discusses three specific problems: cross-racial identification (p.137f), unconscious transference (p.142ff), and photobook/line-ups (p.144f). [The three ET studies involved 12 seconds, 2 seconds, or 'brief exposure to a person'.] This chapter has no relevance to gospel studies--the only possible personal identification is that of the Risen Christ, in which none of the above factors play.

Chapter Eight: Individual differences in Eyewitness ability

Although it might seem that this chapter is similar to the discussion of 'Witness Factors', it is more closely related to longer-term factors. Some of these factors could be seen to bear on the question of NT reliability. ET discusses four factors: general anxiety, sex, age, training.

1. General anxiety. This is related to the stress/focus issue we noted earlier. [The ET study was 24 slides long.] Probably not an issue, and might be supportive of NT reliability.
2. Sex. Sex itself has no apparent bearing on memory, but interest does. Loftus cites one researcher (p.159) who concluded that people "are more readily influenced to the extent that they lack information about a topic or regard it as trivial and unimportant."


The fact that people's memory can be modified when there are huge gaps in the exposure data ("they lack information about a topic") we have discussed above. The comment about ease of influence being positively correlated with an attitude of disinterest, however, is fascinating, especially when you reword it: "the permanence of a memory is directly related to the interest in the topic/subject of that memory". This would imply that if the gospel writers were INTERESTED in the life and words of Jesus, then their memories would be less likely to be distorted through the various factors under discussion! If they considered the person of Jesus of Nazareth, and His 'words of eternal life' (cf. John 6.68f: "Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.'" ) to be important enough to forsake all (Luke 18.28), then this principle suggests that their memories would have been less subject to distortion.

3. Age. This factor is only an issue in very young children and very old adults--neither situation applies to the gospel writers.
4. Training (or advance warning). [The ET study exposure was for 8 seconds.] ET demonstrated that 'recognition training' had no effect on facial recognition accuracy (p.168), but that telling subjects what they were ABOUT to witness made substantial improvement in accuracy (p. 164-165). The closest situation to this I can find in the gospels is a VERY significant one, one in which Jesus told the disciples "what they were about to see". Notice the progression:

"From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. " (Matthew 16.21).

"When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life." (Matthew 17.22f)

Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 18 "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!" (Matthew 20.17)

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 "As you know, the Passover is two days away -- and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified." (Matthew 26.2)

This pre-instruction would, under this factor, tend to make the apostles' memories of the Passion events and Resurrection events more accurate than ordinary memories.
 
 
In this chapter, we saw two specific factors that DO enhance the credibility of the gospel writers: (1) the issue of "interest" in a topic; and (2) the "advanced notice" of what is to be experienced.

Chapter Nine: Common beliefs about Eyewitness Accounts.

This is simply a survey of popular opinion on the issues of the book. As such, it is interesting, but irrelevant to our study here.

Chapter Ten: The Eyewitness and the Legal System

In this chapter Loftus surveys the history of the legal views toward these issues of eyewitness reliability. The net of the history part of the chapter (written in 1979 before the new preface of 1996) is that the legal system had reversed its stand in 1977:

"Thus, although the Supreme Court once provided some constitutional safeguards to help protect against faulty convictions, it later dismantled this protection." (ET:186)

She then examines four possible options as correctives to the problems:
1. Exclude unreliable eyewitness testimony (She rejects this option on p.187-188!).
2. Require corroborating evidence (hmmm, sorta like 'independent confirmation', eh?...She rejects this option on p.188).
3. Instructions to the Jury (She rejects this on p.190).
4. Allow Expert Psychological Testimony (her choice).

What I find interesting is one of the statements in this chapter (p.191):

"Outright exclusion of unreliable testimony and requirement of corroboration are not ideal solutions because they take the decision out of the hands of the jury and might prevent the conviction of many who are truly guilty."

In the case of the NT, this would argue that the NT documents:
1. should not be 'thrown out' by the skeptic upon finding some indication of unreliability;
2. EVEN IF deemed unreliable(!)--would not require 'independent confirmation' before being taken VERY, VERY seriously!

[Her final chapter is an actual trial case, not relevant to our study.]
 

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• Some observations from memory research studies in the Learning model (as opposed to the Witness model)


I have commented above on several occasions that the loftux lacks a great deal of relevance to NT issues, due to a number of factors. One of those I mentioned was the difference between a passive 'Witness' or 'brief bystander' model and a directed, teaching-context Learning model. I would like here to simply highlight some conclusions of memory research in the "Learning" model. [Taken from Your Memory: How it works and How to Improve it, by Professor Kenneth Higbee, Marlowe: 1996 (2nd Ed.)].

Dr. Higbee actually cites Loftus' research (though not ET). His chapters 4 and 5 are concerned with "How to Remember Anything" type of tactics. I want simply to summarize these (without analyzing the studies he cites), and make a brief comment about how they can be found in the teaching of Jesus.

1. Meaningfulness--organize the data somehow (p.46). He gives several tactics to make the data more memorable:
• Familiarity--the "more you know about a particular subject the easier it is to learn new information about it" (p.47). In the case of the disciples--already coming from a distinctly Jewish milieu--Jesus' words would have built upon the great Jewish religion, and His person would have been recognized as that of The Prophet (or at least, "a" prophet) [cf. Matt 16.13f; 21.11, 46; Mark 6.15; Luke 7.16; 13.33 et.al.]
• Rhymes. Many of Jesus' sayings are in Semitic poetic form (cf. Jeremias, New Testament Theology, above.)
• Patterns. Jesus followed several of the standard rabbinical argument pattern-forms.

 

 

2. Organization: The main technique Jesus used to organize His teaching was through the use of pre-announcement. He would consistently tell them what was going to happen next. He also used inversion quite a bit (e.g. 'the greatest will be the least among you' and 'the poor will inherit the earth').
3. Association: Jesus consistently associated actions/attitudes of the people to OT passages.
4. Visualization: Jesus was known for this high use of visual imagery (e.g. sower, seed, coins, sheep)
5. Attention: (We have seen the importance of this in Loftus, above).
6. Repetition: As we noted above, Jesus repeatedly told His disciples of 'coming events', and reminded them of past events and words (e.g. the feeding of the crowds). He would have used the same or similar messages and words to the different towns and villages he visited with them, so that they would have been exposed to the core messages over and over and over.
7. Relaxation: This principle says that learning (not memory) is done best in a relaxed atmosphere. This situation would have occurred when Jesus was alone with the disciples, after ministry to the crowds.
8. Context: (This is the same principle we saw above-- making the learning setting and the recall setting the same.)
9. Interest: (We have already noted the importance of this above.)
10. Feedback: (I have pointed the criticality of this out above, as well.)

 

 

(There are numerous studies on Jesus' teaching methods, from both Jewish and Christian circles. For a quick overview, see WWRJ, chapter four: "Jesus as Teacher".)

One can easily see from this list that under the Learning/Teacher model, the disciples were in situations and under instruction that would have optimized their ability to remember the words and deeds of their Lord.
 
 

• Summary: Issues/contributions to 'apologetic' work re: the eyewitness issue and NT credibility.
1. Most of the studies, information, and conclusions in the book are simply inapplicable to the NT situation.
2. Most of the factors discussed that DO or MIGHT apply to the NT, support its reliability for accuracy!
3. Unlike individual test subjects in these studies, gospel production was a collaborative effort, with significant checks-and-balances on the factors discussed by ET.
4. The gospel production goal was factually-based, composite belief--not uniform memories.
5. The better model for the disciples as participants is that of learners, not as bystanders or victims.
6. And actually, even with all the factors operative, the distortion amounts in studies are very, very small. In a detailed study by Loftus and Zanni ("Eyewitness Testimony: The influence of the wording of a question", Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society) using all the 'tampering devices', 85% of the subjects were not misled even about extraneous details (p.86-88).
7. The presence of the powerful figure of Jesus of Nazareth--admitted by adherents of MOST worldviews as an incredible leader and teacher--would have created a learning environment radically different than simply memory experiments!

 [Author's note: This book is somewhat dated at this point. I have a more recent and complete summary book on order--Mistaken Identification: The Eyewitness, Psychology, and the Law, by Cutler and Penrod (Cambridge UP:1995). If it contains any additional or more relevant data, I will update this piece at my earliest opportunity.]