EWT: misleading info Flashcards
what are the effects of misleading information
Misleading information can change the memory of an eyewitness by providing information that becomes incorporated into the memory of the event even though it was not present at the time of the event
describe the procedure of Loftus and palmer study
45 participants watched films of different car accidents and then gave them questions.In the leading question, participants were asked to describe how fast the cars were travelling ‘About how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?’Each of the five different groups had a different verb e.g smashed, collided, bumped,
contacted.
what were the findings of Loftus and palmer study?
smashed = 40.8
Collided = 39.3
bumped = 38.1
Hit = 34
contacted = 31.8
what is the second procedure of Loftus and Palmer study?
The leading question may bias a participant’s response or may cause information to be altered before it is stored.
A second study was conducted: ‘Did you see any broken glass?’There was no broken glass but those who thought that the car was travelling faster were more likely to think there was broken glass.
what were the findings of the second study of Loftus and Palmer?
showed that the leading question did change the actual memory a participant had for the event.
suggests the wording of the question has no real effect on participants’ memories,but influences how they decide to answer.’Smashes’ encourages them to choose a higher speed estimate.
what is post event discussion?
The memory of an event may be altered/contaminated through discussing the event with others or being questioned multiple times.
what was Fiona gabbert et al study
studied participants in pairs.Each participant watched a video of the same crime from different points of view.So each participant could see elements in the event that others could not.Findings-71% of the witnesses who had discussed the event went on to mistakenly recall items acquired during the discussion. Gabbert et al concluded that witnesses go along with each other to gain social approval
evaluation: limitation
artificial tasks used
A limitation of Loftus and Palmer’s study is that their participants watched film clips which is a different experience from witnessing a real accident as they lack the stress of a real accident.This is a limitation because it means the study tells very little about the effect of leading questions on EWT in real accidents/crimes.
evaluation: strength
supporting evidence college students in Disneyland
College students were asked to evaluate advertising materials about disneyland.This material has misleading information about either bugs bunny or ariel(Bugs is not disney,Ariel had not been introduced at the time of their childhood).They were assigned to Bugs,Ariel or a control condition.All had visited disneyland.Participants in the Bugs and Ariel group were more likely to report having shaken hands with these characters compared to the control group.This shows how misleading information can create an inaccurate memory.
evaluation: weakness
doesn’t account for individual differences
Older people are less accurate than younger people. Anastasi and Rhodes found that people in age groups 18-25 and 35-45 gave a more accurate recall than 55-78. However there is own age bias.
evaluation: strength
useful real life application
real life application for practical use.The consequences of inaccurate EWT can be so serious that police should be careful how they phrase their questions.
