12 - ewt (misleading information) Flashcards
define eye witness testimony
the ability of people to remember the details of events such as accidents and crimes which they have observed
what was loftus and palmers task?
participants watched videos of car accidents and were then given questions to answer about them afterwards.
how many groups were there in loftus and palmers study
5
what was the question each group was asked in loftus and palmers study?
how fast were the cars going when they ___ into each other
what different verb did each of the five groups in loftus and palmers study get?
hit, contacted, bumped, smashed and collided
what did loftus and palmers find when they changed the verb?
the mean speed estimated also changed
in loftus and palmers study, the estimate mean speed for contacted was what?
31.8 mph
in loftus and palmers study, the mean speed estimated for smashed was what?
40.5mph
what does a leading question do?
puts ideas or words into people’s minds. wording for the question has no real effect on participants memories, just influences how they decide to answer
what did loftus and palmer test in their second experiment?
the substitution explanation (when they begin making false memories)
what was the result of loftus and palmers second study?
they found that those who hear the word smashed were more likely to report seeing broken glass when in fact there wasn’t any
what can happen during post event discussion?
their eye witness testimony might become contaminated if witnesses discuss the event with each other. this is because they combine information, some of which is not true
who studied post event discussion?
gabbert
how did gabbert organise her participantsvl
in pairs
what was the task in gabbert’s study?
each participant watched a video of the same crime but filmed from different points of view so they picked up on different details
gabbert found that what percent of participants mistakenly recalled aspects of the event that they did not see in the video but had picked up through post event discussion with their partner?
71%
did the control group in gabberts study recall details from post event discussion?
no
gabbert concluded that witnesses often go along with eachother to win what?
social approval
what is memory conformity?
when witnesses go along with each other to win social approval
who studied false memories using leading questions?
seema clifasefi et al
what was clifasefi et al’s document?
gave participants a document claiming to be a personalised food and drink profile, supposedly put together by a powerful computer software based on participants earlier responses to a questionnaire
what false information did one group have in clifasefi et al’s document?
when they were 16 they got so drunk they were sick
what was the task in clifasefi et al’s study after receiving the document?
later the participants completed a memory test in which the leading question asked when they had become sick from drinking too much alcohol
what did clifasefi et al find after asking the leading question?
a significant number of the participants recalled being sick due to drinking too much alcohol at the age of 16. some even claimed that they now did not enjoy drinking certain alcoholic drinks because of an experience that never existed
how can misleading information in ewt be applied to real life police investigations and the legal system? (strength)
loftus believes that leading questions can have such a distorting effect on memory that police officers must be very careful about how they phrase their questions. psychologists believe that by not allowing the use of leading questions, the whole legal system can be improved
how is the artificial task in loftus and palmers study a weakness?
participants watched film clips rather than real accidents, may have had an effect due to the amount of stress experienced during a real accident compared to watching a video. causes doubt over the external reliability
how is individual differences and anastasi and rhodes a weakness of misleading information in eye witness reports?
there is evidence that older people are less accurate than younger people when giving eye witness reports. anastasi and rhodes found that people in age groups 18-25 and 35-45 were more accurate than people in the age group 55-78. however, all age groups were more accurate when identifying people their own age (own age bias)
