Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

A Level Psychology > 2.4 - Eyewitness Testimony > Flashcards

2.4 - Eyewitness Testimony Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards AP® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

Eye witness testimony

A

When a person who was present at a event recalls what happened

Relies on recall from memory

Can be inaccurate or distorted

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Factors that affect accuracy of eye witness testimony

A
  • misleading information
  • anxiety
  • age of the witness
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Loftus & palmer (1974)

Misleading information

A

Conducted two experiments

Experiment 1 :

  • shown a film of multiple car crashes
  • asked series of questions eg. How fast do you think the car was going when they got hit
  • in different conditions the word hit was replaced with “smashed” or “ contracted “ etc.

Experiment 2 :

  • participants split into 3 groups
  • 1 group given the word smashed another hit and the 3rd control group wasn’t given any indication of the vehicle’s speed
  • 1 week later the participants were asked if they’d seen any broken glass ?
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Results of loftus and palmer

A

Results 1:

  • participants that were given the word smashed estimated a higher speed
  • participants given the word contracted gave lower speeds

Results 2 :

  • even though there was no broken glass
  • participants were more likely to say that they’d seen broken glass in the smashed condition than any other
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Conclusion of Loftus & Palmer

A

Leading questions can affect the accuracy of peoples memories of an event

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Evaluation points for Loftus & Palmer study

A
  • implications for questions in police interviews
  • artificial experiment - watching a video that is not emotionally arousing as a real life event which potentially affects recall
  • leading questions give participants Ques about the nature of the experiment
  • reduced the validity and reliability of the experiment
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Loftus & Zanni looked into leading questions study - aim of study

A

How altering the wording of a question can produce a leading question that can distort EWT

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Loftus & Zanni method

A
  • shown a film of a car crash
  • asked “ did you see THE broken headlight” “ did you see A broken headlight”

There was no broken headlight in the film

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Loftus & Zanni results

A
  • 17% of those asked about “The” broken headlight claimed they saw one
  • 7% of the group asked about “ a” broken headlight
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Loftus & Zanni conclusion

A

Simple use of the word “ THE” is enough to affect the accuracy of peoples memory of an event

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Loftus & Zanni evaluation

A
  • lab study which made it possible to control any extraneous variables ✅
  • possible to establish cause and effect ✅
  • artificial study so thus lacked ecological validity ❌
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What else can affect the accuracy of recall ?

A

Post event discussion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Shaw et al. Method

A
  • paired participants with a confederate
  • pairs were shown videos of a staged robbery and were interviewed together afterwards
  • participant and confederate alternated who answered the questions first
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Shaw et al. Results

A
  • participant responded first = recall was accurate 58% of the time
  • confederate answered first and gave accurate answers the recall of the participants was 67%
  • if confederate gave inaccurate answers = correct recall for participants fell to 42%
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Age of witness Valentine and Coxon Method :

A
  • 3 groups ( children, young adults, elderly ) watched a kidnapping video
  • asked a series of leading and non leading questions about what they’ve seen

-

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Valentine and Coxon results

A
  • elderly and children gave more incorrect answers to non leading questions
  • children were mislead more by leading questions compared to adults and elderly
17
Q

Valentine and Coxon evaluation

A
  • implications in law when elderly and young children are questioned
  • artificial experiment wasn’t as emotionally arousing as s real life situation thus lacks ecological validity
18
Q

Anxiety

A
  • small increases in anxiety and arousal = increase the accuracy of memory
  • high levels = negative effect on accuracy
  • violent crimes where anxiety increases the witness may focus on central details eg. Weapon and neglect other peripheral details eg. What the criminal was wearing ?
19
Q

Loftus - weapon focus in EWT method :

A
  • study with independent groups design participants heard discussion in a nearby room
  • 1 condition = a man came out of the room with a pen and grease on his hands
  • 2nd condition = the man came out carrying a knife covered in blood
  • participants were asked to identify the man from the 50 photographs
20
Q

Lofus - weapon focus in EWT results

A
  • Participants in Condition 1 were 49% accurate
  • 33% of the participants in condition 2 were correct
21
Q

Loftus - conclusion

A

When anxious and aroused witness focused on a weapon at the expense of other details

22
Q

Loftus evaluation - weapon focus in EWT

A
  • study has high ecological validity as the participants weren’t aware that the study was staged
  • thus means that there are also ethical considerations as participants could have been very distressed at the sight of the man with the knife
23
Q

Evidence against : misleading questions and anxiety don’t always affect EWT

A
  • field study by YUILLE and CUTSHALL showed that witnesses of a real incident ( gun shooting ) has remarkably accurate memories of the event
  • a thief was shot and killed by police and witnesses were interviewed
  • 13 were invited to be re- interviewed 5 months later
  • recall was highly accurate even after the time period
  • researchers had included two misleading questions but these had no effect on the subjects answers
  • study had high ecological validity as it was based on real life event
  • the witnesses who experienced the highest levels of stress were also closest to the event - it’s difficult to determine whether proximity or stress contributed to the accuracy of recall
24
Q

Cognitive interview

A

A questioning technique used by the police to enhance retrieval of information from the witnesses memory

  • important role within the legal system and the serious repercussions when it goes wrong
25
Q

Context reinstatement

A
  • recreating a mental picture of the event including both the external environment and the individuals own internal state
  • recalling the context in this way may provide cues that help trigger memories
26
Q

Recall from different perspective

A
  • recreating the event from another’s persons perspective
  • may increase the accuracy of the testimony by reducing the effect of the witness schema
27
Q

Recall in different chronological order

A
  • recreating the event In a different sequence in time
  • recalling the event in a different order may also increase the accuracy of the testimony by reducing the effect of the witness schema
28
Q

Report everything

A
  • The witness is encouraged to report all details of the event even if they may seem irrelevant or unimportant
  • memories often have many different retrieval paths recalling other details may provide cues that help trigger further memories
29
Q

Geiselmam et al. ( the effect of the cognitive interview ) method

A
  • in a staged situation an intruder carrying a blue rucksack entered a classroom and stole a slider projector
  • 2 days later participants were questioned about the event
  • study used independent groups design
  • participants were either questioned using a standard interview procedure or the cognitive interview technique
  • early in the questioning the participants were asked “ was the guy with the green backpack nervous “

Later in the interview the participants were asked what colour the man’s rucksack was

30
Q

Geiselman et al. Results & conclusion

A

Results:

  • participants in the cognitive interview condition were less likely to recall the rucksack as being green than those in the standard interview condition

Conclusion :

The cognitive interview technique reduces the effect of leading questions

31
Q

Geiselman et al. Evaluation

A
  • experiment was conducted as though a real crime had taken place in the classroom - high ecological validity
  • experiment used independent group design - participants in the cognitive interview condition could have been naturally less susceptible to leading questions than the other group
32
Q

Post-event discussion

A
  • Occurs when there is more than one witness to an event
  • witnesses may discuss what they have seen with other Co-witnesses
  • this effects accuracy
33
Q

Tunnel theory

A

Explanation for the weapon-focus effect is that the weapon narrows the field of attention and thus reduced information to be stored

34
Q

Why is the cognitive interview important ?

A
  • improving effectiveness of questioning witnesses in police interviews
  • applying findings of psychological findings to this area
35
Q

First component of the cognitive interview

A

Report everything you can recall even if it seems trivial

A Level Psychology (20 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions