EWTs: Post-event Discussion Flashcards
What is an eye witness testimony
When people who have witnessed a crime report what they remember happening during the event
What is post-event discussion
When witnesses discuss events which can influence the accuracy of their EWTs
Outline Gabbert Et al (2003)
-pairs of ppts watched a film of a crime from two different angles and afterwards they discussed what they have seen and recalled what they remember happening
-results: 71% recalled parts they hadn’t seen compared to 0% in the control condition, provides evidence that post-event discussion can influence recall
-Conclusion: participants change their version of events after post event discussion to win approval/they believe others are right(memory conformity)
Outline Gabbert Et al (2015) second study
-two participants (one confederate) watch film of robbery and discuss and fed false info
-real ppt gave their own account and 75% were suggestible and included info that confederate reported but was not actually in the footage which corroborates og findings
Expand on limitation that research into EWTs lacks consequences
-no motivation for accurate recall compared to a real life crime, cannot be applied to real life situations
-may tell us very little about the influence of post event discusiion
Expand on strength of research into EWTs that it has practical value
-the understanding about how leading questions influence answers can be applied to the criminal justice system and can stop use of post event discussion and leading questions
-suggests research has had a positive impact on the CJS and led to fewer false accusations
Expand on limitation that the research uses artificial stimuli
-showing participants a video of a crime does not reflect the same high emotional intensity that would be felt at the scene of a real crime or car crash
-means the research lacks mundane realism as may truly tell us very little about how leading questions influence recall
What is a leading question
A question that is worded to suggest a particular answer
Outline research by Loftus and Palmer
-students(ppts) watched film clips of car accidents and were asked questions
-question was altered for five conditions by changing the verb, critical question was how fast were the cars going when they hit/contacted/bumped/collided/smashed into each other
-contacted averaged lowest speed, smashed was 10mph faster on average
Expand on limitation of Loftus and Palmer study that use of students in sample
-if they do not drive they are less likely to know how certain speeds look making their estimates less accurate
-lacks population validity so cannot be generalised to wider population
Two ways leading questions can affect EWTs
-response bias explanation: wording doesn’t alter memory just how we answer the question
-substitution explanation: wording changes the memory, supported by Loftus and Palmer’s second experiment where participants were more likely to report seeing broken glass when they heard the verb smashed
