CLOA - extent of reliability of a cognitive process Flashcards

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1
Q

importance of questioning eyewitness reliability

A
  • criminal justice system relies heavily on eyewitness testimony
  • The Innocence Project provides assistance to wrongly convicted people to help prove their innocence
  • over 75% of the 220 people they helped were convicted due to mistaken eyewitness identification
  • Eakin et al. (2003): even when warned about the presence of misleading info, participants were still vulnerable to it

Main studies:

  • Loftus et al. (1987)
  • Deffenbacher et al. (2004)

Counter-studies:

  • Riniolo et al. (2003)
  • Yuille and Cutshall (1983)
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2
Q

Loftus et al. (1987) - Aim

A
  • investigate how repression may influence memories

- (thus leading to unreliable answers from eyewitnesses)

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3
Q

Loftus et al. (1987) - Process

A
  1. Participants overhear a discussion in the room next door
  2. There were 2 conditions (i.e. groups)
    - no weapon condition (man with greasy hands emerges, holding a pen)
    - weapon condition (man with bloody paper knife emerges)
  3. Participants were asked to identify the man from a selection of 50 people
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4
Q

Loftus et al. (1987) - Findings

A

participants from no-weapon condition more accurate in recollection

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5
Q

Loftus et al. (1987) - Conclusion

A
  • participants’ attention was drawn to presence of weapons
  • so less attention paid to man’s facial features
  • weapon may also have influenced participants’ anxiety levels, affecting the reliability of their memory
  • therefore eyewitness testimony is unreliable
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6
Q

Deffenbacher et al. (2004)

A
  • conducted meta-analyses of studies investigating the role of emotion on eyewitness testimony
  • found that anxiety and stress reduces the reliable recall of crime details
  • including information about the behaviour of the main characters
  • but some studies suggest that anxiety and stress seem to improve eyewitness accuracy
  • suggested that increases of anxiety up to a certain level increase accuracy but further increases may produce the opposite effect
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7
Q

Riniolo et al. (2003)

A

found that eyewitness memory of the sinking of the Titanic was accurate

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8
Q

Loftus and Palmer (1974)

A
  • mean estimates were highest in smashed„ condition and lowest in contacted
  • results indicate that memory can be manipulated by using specifi†c words (hence, is unreliable)
  • critical word in the question consistently aff‡‡ected participant‚ answers
  • the use o‡f diff‡‡erent words may have influenced participants‚ mental representation/memory reconstruction of‡ the accident (activating diff schemas using the critical word)
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9
Q

Yuille and Cutshall (1986)

A
  • interviewed 13 witnesses to an armed robbery in Canada 5 months after the crime
  • the interview questions utilized a similar technique to Loftus and Palmer (1974) – the use of ‘leading questions’ to mislead the participants
  • their recollections of the crime were compared with the initial detailed reports they had given to the police
  • despite the leading questions, recollections very closely matched original reports
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10
Q

extent of memory reliability

A
  • memory is an active reconstructive process
  • every time a memory is recalled, stored info is altered
  • one is forced to simplify by relying on prior knowledge
  • schemas are facilitators in comprehension and memorisation
  • helps to enable more effortless and efficient processing
  • but schematic processing can lead to error and distortion
  • should be noted that in all studies, the gist of the situation was correctly recalled
  • but memory of specific details may have been influenced upon recall
  • thus eyewitness testimony is fallible and should not be overly relied upon
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11
Q

conclusion: to what extent is one cognitive process reliable?

A
  • memory is an active reconstructive process
  • Bransford and Johnson (1972) established schemas as great facilitators in the comprehension and memorization of information
  • hence, reconstruction =! distortion
  • however, that doesn’t mean schematic processing won’t cause error/distortion
  • much empirical evidence for and against reliability
  • research addressing specific factors or processes can no doubt help us predict the circumstances in which eyewitness testimony will be reliable or unreliable
  • to conclude, more research on the factors are necessary to establish a suitable conclusion
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12
Q

what to write when asked “to what extent is one cognitive process reliable?”

A
  • cognitive process: memory

factors affecting memory reliability:

  • weapon focus: Loftus et al (1987)
  • high emotional arousal: Deffenbacher et al (2004) vs Riniolo et al. (2003)
  • leading questions: Loftus and Palmer (1974) vs Yuille and Cutshall (1986)
  • NOTE THAT LOFTUS’ AND DEFFENBACHER’S STUDIES ARE LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS WHILE YUILLE’S AND RINIOLO’S ARE CASE STUDIES – analyse the difference between real-life and experimental situations
  • discuss the validity of the arguments
  • give judgment by emphasizing some arguments over others
  • give judgment on the relative importance of the factors on the behaviour: how important is ____ and why?
  • present all opinions with evidence
  • conclusion: evaluate the extent of reliability
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