Cognitive Psychology: Eyewitness Testimony

Question 1

What is Eyewitness Testimony?

Answer 1

This is the evidence provided by a person who witnessed a crime, with a view to identifying the perpetrator of the crime.

Question 2

Name the major Study into Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony

Answer 2

Loftus and Palmer

Question 3

What was the procedure?

Answer 3

45 ppts watched films of different traffic accidents. After each film the ppts would fill in a questionnaire. There was one critical question which asked “How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?”. One group were given this question but the other 5 groups were given the verbs: smashed; collided; bumped or contacted instead of “hit”.

Question 4

What did they find?

Answer 4

They found that when the word smashed was used, the highest result (40.8 mph) was estimate, and contacted brought the lowest estimates (31.8 mph).

Question 5

What were the conclusions drawn from the findings?

Answer 5

Loftus’ research indicates how EWT was quite inaccurate and thus unreliable, as it can be manipulated easily with a simple change of word.