EWT and PED Flashcards
what is an EWT?
an eye witness testimony is information given by a witness for example to a crime about what happened
what is misleading information?
incorrect info given to a person which reduces the accuracy of their EWT for example leading questions or post event discussion
what is a leading questions?
leading questions provoke specific answers that are not necessarily true for example ‘did you see the blue car?’ implies there was a blue car when it may have been red if there was a car in the first place
what is post event discussion
discussion with other witnesses after the event. this is bad as it can lead to conformity or source monitoring which both effect EWT badly
what did Loftus and Palmer’s car crash study find?
45 students shown a car crash in 5 groups of 9
asked how speed of cars when they -verb- each other
verb changed based on intensity from contacted to smashed
smashed gave an avg speed of 40.8 mph
contacted gave an avg speed of 31.8 mph
this shows the impact of leading questions
what did the Loftus and Palmer 1974 broken glass study find?
150 student showed a crash and asked questions
3 groups of 150
group 1: hit
group 2: smashed
group 3: not asked about the speed
asked after a week if they saw broken glass
there was no broken glass
16 said yes in group 1
7 said yes in group 2
6 said yes in group 3
what did the Yuille and Cutshall field study show?
13 witnesses to a real crime were reinterviewed
the crime resulted in the shop owner being shot
young man shot and killed
reinterview included 2 misleading questions
misleading questions had no effect on answers
very accurate testimonies
most distressed had best recall
witnesses of real-life crime have strong recall even with weapons and high stress
what is source monitoring theory?
your stories get confused with another’s and so you no longer which is the original one leading to inaccuracies
what is conformity theory?
when you go along with other accounts either to blend it or because you think they must be right and you wrong
what did Gabbert et al 2003 find?
60 student and 60 adults from the community
showed video of a girl stealing in pairs or alone
those in pairs were shown different videos without being told with only one showing stealing
pairs were allowed to discuss after
71% recalled info they did not see
60% called the girl guilty without seeing anything
shows negative effect of PED and how it effects EWT
what did wright et al 2000 find?
showed pairs and identical crime
only half saw an accomplice
initial memories were accurate
75% showed conformity and said they saw an accomplice
