4.1.2 - eye witness testimony

Question 1

Why is EWT significant

Answer 1

• Important for juries when making decisions
• In 75% of cases, where individuals found to be wrongfully convicted by DNA evidence, the original eye witness testimony which led to the conviction was inaccurate
• research helps further our understanding and has many practical applications and has influenced how courts conduct witness statements and the basis of convictions.

Question 2

How does the schema influence memory

Answer 2

Schemas are internal representations of the world and do not always accurately represent real life situations
- they can generalise situations leading to inaccurate recall due to pre-set perspectives of the world

Question 3

Who researched the effect of schemas on ewt

Answer 3

Bartlett (1932)

Question 4

What did Bartlett propose

Answer 4

• memories are not accurate snapshots of events, but
  Are reconstructions
• these reconstructions are influenced by active schemas which are not l ways realistic
• schemas affect the reliability of ewt , witnesses aren’t just recalling facts as they happened, they are reconstructing memories.

Question 5

What investigation did Bartlett carry out to support his view

Answer 5

War of the ghosts
· Bartlett (1932) - when Western cultural participants were told this
story, it didn’t make sense from their cultural viewpoint.
· upon recall, memory of the story was distorted to fit a
Western cultural viewpoint
· Demonstrates how memory can be affected by schemas.

Question 6

Ways in which misleading info cause in accuracy of ewt

Answer 6

• leading questions ( questions that suggest an answer )
• post event discussion ( discussion between co-witnesses after an event )

Question 7

Study about misleading info through leading questions

Answer 7

Lotus and Palmer - used language to distort the ppts memory of a situation

Question 8

Loftus and Palmer - method

Answer 8

• 45 ppts were shown short video clips of a road accident
• all ppts were asked: “about how fast were the cars going when they ……. each other”
• each group was given a different verb to fill the blank.
• the IV was the verb used which were smashed, contacted, collided, bumped or hit

Question 9

Loftus and palmer - findings

Answer 9

• The estimated speed was affected by the verb used. - The verbs implied information about the speed, which systematically affected the participants’ memory of the accident.
• “smashed” made ppts believe the cars were travelling faster than “contacted” which led ppts to believe that speeds were low

Question 10

Loftus and palmer - conclusion

Answer 10

• ewt can be biased by the way questions are asked
• two explanations:
  1) response bias factors: the misleading info influenced the answer a person ave but didn’t actually lead to false memory
  2) the memory representation is altered: the critical verb changed a persons perception of the situation and therefore changed the way in which it is stored in the memory.

Question 11

Loftus and palmer A03: lab study

Answer 11

Limitation
- not realistic setting: decreases ecological validity
- does it involve flashbulb memories as emotions aren’t heightened
- in real life ppts will not be told to pay attention to a specific event, there is an element of surprise

Question 12

Loftus and palmer A03: generalisability

Answer 12

Limitation
- all ppts were students, who are not experienced drivers therefore less able to accurately judge speed compared to older people
- all the same age, not generalisable to the whole population

Question 13

Loftus and palmer A03: real life application

Answer 13

• police questioning witnesses have specific rules avoiding leading questions dues to the effect that they have been suggested to have on memory

Question 14

Who carried out research on post event discussion

Answer 14

Gabbert (2003)

Question 15

Gabbert - method

Answer 15

· ppts watched a video of a crime, filmed from different viewpoints.
· so, each participant could see elements of the event that others could not
· In one group ppts, then discussed what they had seen before comparing recall
· In the other group, there was no discussion between ppts

Question 16

Gabbert - findings & conclusion

Answer 16

• 71% of participants mistakenly recalled aspects of the event they did not see, but picked up in discussion.

-> CONCLUSION:
·witnesses often go along with each other to win social approval or because they believe the others may be right and they may be wrong
-> this is called MEMORY CONFOMITY

Question 17

Misleading info A03: individual differences

Answer 17

-> A number of studies (eg. schater et al, 1991) have found that compared to younger
subjects, elderly people have difficulty remembering the source of their information,
therefore they are more prone to the effect of misleading into.
-> shows that Identification is an important factor when assessing the
reliability of CNT.

Question 18

Misleading info A03: real world application

Answer 18

Strength
- research is important to ensure that people are not wrongfully convicted of crimes due to inaccurate ewt

Question 19

What are the two ways in which anxiety effects ewt

Answer 19

• high anxiety leads to inaccurate recall
• high anxiety has positive effects in recall

Question 20

Anxiety having negative effects on recall explanation

Answer 20

anxiety leads to increased arousal in the body which can stop us from paying
attention to important cres (such as an attackers face) and therefore recall is
Worse.

Question 21

What is the weapon focus effect ( anxiety worsening recall)

Answer 21

• If the crime is violent, then high anxiety and levels of arousal may focus
  attention on the central details of the attack.
  eg: the weapon used instead of the perpetrator’s face

Question 22

How did Johnson and Scott investigate the weapon focus effect and anxiety worsening recall

Answer 22

ppts In a waiting room overheard discussion in the room next door.

condition 1:
- A man emerges holding an ink stained pen (low anxiety).
- 79% of ppts accurated Identified the man.

Condition 2:
- A man emerges holding a blood-stained knife (high anxiety).
- Only 36%. of ppts identify merges man correctly.
not

Question 23

Johnson and Scott conclusion

Answer 23

• when feeling anxious, central details of the event were not remembered therefore it is suggested that attention was shifted onto the weapon instead

Question 24

Anxiety having a positive effect on recall explanation

Answer 24

The stress of witnessing a crime or accident creates anxiety. The fight or
flight response is triggered which increases our alertness and therefore will
improve our memory for the event because we are more aware of cues in
the situation.

Question 25

Yuille and cutshall method to investigate anxiety positively effecting recall

Answer 25

· A group of as customers in a gun shop in vancouver witnessed the owner of the shop shoot and kill a thief. They all gave statements to the police
· 13 of the original witnesses were interviewed months later by Yuille & cutshall.
- The original statements were compared with the interviews for accuracy and specific details
- ppts were then asked to rate how anxious they were feeling on a scale

Question 26

Yuille and Cutshall findings

Answer 26

The group of people that reported high stress and anxiety levels recalled the event most accurately

Question 27

What is the Hermes Dodson law

Answer 27

INVERTED U HYPOTHESIS
- accounts for these contradictory findings that anxiety can both hinder and enhance recall
- · This states that when arousal is concerned
their is an optimum level at which performance
will be best, but below or above which will
be worse.

Question 28

Anxiety A03: not measuring anxiety

Answer 28

limitation
- Yuille and cutshalk measured stress levels, not explicitly anxiety
- decreases the internal and external validity
- the stress scale is also subjective and social desirability bias may have occurred

Question 29

Anxiety A03: individual differences

Answer 29

Limitation
- one key extraneous variable in many studies of anxiety is emotional sensitivity.
- Bothwell et al (1987):
· ppts were tested for personality characteristics and were labelled as either ‘neurotic’ (get anxious quickly) or ‘stable ‘(less emotionally sensitive
· He found that stable’ ppts showed increase in accuracy as stress levels rose
·so can be concluded that anxiety levels can both and
accuracy of recall depending on the emotional sensitivity of person.

Question 30

Anxiety A03: real life application

Answer 30

increased ecological validity of theories by interviewing Hurricane Andrew victims.
- He defined amount of anxiety as level of destruction to home experienced & he found that there was a link between level of recall, and amount of anxiety experienced
-> strengthens increased anxiety = increased recall theories.