Accuracy of eyewitness testimony - Misleading Information Flashcards
What study did Loftus and Palmer do into the effects of misleading information
They showed participants seven different films of different traffic accidents, and gave participants a questionaire about the incidents. There was one crucial question, “How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?”. One group was given this question, while four other groups were given the question with the verb hit replaced with smashed, collided, bumped or contacted. They found that more violent words led to higher speeds suggested
Which piece of research by Loftus and Palmer showed that misleading information could alter information before it was stored
A set of participants were divided into three groups and shown a film of a car accident, and again asked about speed. One week later they were asked a series of 10 questions about the accident, including the critical question “did you see any broken glass”. Those particpants who were given a more violent verb on the initial speed question were more likely to think there was glass.
Who did a study involving misleading questions and a set of car accidents
Loftus and Palmer
Who studied the effects of verbs on broken glass
Loftus and Palmer
What is an element other than misleading questions which may affect memory of an event (not anxiety - different essay)
Post-event discussion, as co-witnesses may reach a consensus view of what happened. This was investigated by Gabbert et al, who showed participant pairs different videos of the same event, and then were encouraged to discuss the event. When individually recalling the event, 71% recalled items acquired through discussion
How did a study at Disney land support the effects of misleading information
Loftus asked participants to evaluate Disney advertising materials, with the information including information about Bugs Bunny and Ariel. These characters weren’t at Disney at the time the students went, but participants assigned to these groups were more likely to report having shaken the hands of these characters than those in a control group. Shows the power of misleading information
Who did a study of including bringing participants to Disneyland
Loftus
What is an issue with many studied into misleading information
They often lack mundane realism, for example in Loftus and Palmer’s study participants were made to watch a video of a car crash, but in this doesn’t mimic seeing a real life car crash. In real life there is far more emotion attached to this event than in a video, and thus you’re more likely to remember it more accurately
Why are individual differences an issue in research into misleading information
Individual differences in memory retention, likely coming down to age, can play a large role in studies. Schacter et al found that an older person struggles to differentiate between the event itself and subsequent suggestions, and so struggles to remember the source of information. As a result they are more prone to the effects of misleading information
Who found that old people struggle to remember things
Schacter et al
Why does research into misleading information have real world consequences
The justice system relies heavily on eyewitness testimony to identify criminals. Research has been used to warn the system about the dangers of eyewitness testimony as evidence. More recent DNA exoneration cases have confirmed the warnings of poor eyewitness testimony. Research has found eyewitness testimony to be the largest factor contributing to the conviction of innocent people.
