Accuracy of eyewitness testimony: misleading information Flashcards
In terms of misleading information, what can accuracy of eye witness testimony be affected by?
Leading questions. Post-event discussion.
Explain what a leading question is.
Question that, either by form or content, suggests to the witness what answer is desired or leads them to the desired answer.
Who studied the effects of leading questions on eyewitness testimony?
Loftus and Palmer.
What procedure did Loftus and Palmer use to investigate leading questions and eyewitness testimony?
45 students shown several films of traffic accidents. Given questionnaire on each with a critical question: ‘how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?’ Other groups reviewed different verbs: smashed, collided, bumped, hit, contacted. Verb = leading.
What did they find about the affect of the verb on the responses in the Loftus and Palmer study?
Positive correlation between intensity of verb and mean speed estimate. ‘Smashed’ 9 km/h faster than ‘contacted’.
What else did Loftus and Palmer find when conducting a similar study?
Participants with the ‘smashed’ condition were more likely to recall broken glass in the film than the ‘hit’ condition. No broken glass in film - memory altered.
What is post-event discussion?
Conversation between co-witnesses or an interviewer and eyewitness after a crime has taken place which may contaminate a witness’ memory of the event.
How may the conformity effect impact accuracy of eyewitness testimony?
Influenced by another individual or group to change what they believed to be true. Could be done by any form of conformity.
How may repeat interviewing impact accuracy of eyewitness testimony? Who is most susceptible to the affects here?
Each interview, chance that comments from interviewer become incorporated into recollection of events. Leading questions can also impact recall here. Children are more susceptible.
(AO3) What is the main issue with Loftus and Palmer’s research?
Serious lack of mundane realism. Participants aware situations are fake/staged. Ps may not take experiment seriously. Not as ‘emotionally aroused’ as in a real incident. Study found EWT recall was very accurate when participants believed they were witnessing a real crime (armed robbery).
(AO3) What is the real world application of Loftus and Palmer’s research?
Application in criminal justice system. Heavily reliant on EWT to investigate crime. Evidence suggests not entirely reliable. DNA discoveries proven innocence of wrongly sentenced citizens due to EWT. Shows importance of improving EWT to society - this study helps improve it.
(AO3) What is another issue with the Loftus and Palmer study that may have impacted validity?
Demand characteristics. May have guessed aims of study. More likely to give ‘beneficial’ answers when unsure. Please-U effect = social desirability bias. Results become biased (internal validity) and difficult to replicate (reliability).
(AO3) What are the strengths and weaknesses of the experimental design in the Loftus and Palmer study?
Independent groups.
Strengths: no order effects + less likely to guess aims.
Weaknesses: participant variables & individual differences. May be due to different IQ. Multiple conditions following same trend reduce the chance of this though.
