Eye-witness testimony Flashcards
Why is eye-witness testimony important?
It is important for juries when making decisions.
What is a schema?
A mental framework/packet of information used to interpret external environments.
Gives us expectations.
The influence of schemas
Bartlett (1932) - memories are not accurate snapshots of events but are ‘reconstructions’.
These reconstructions are influenced by active schemas.
Schemas are internal, mental representations of the world. They cause us to interpret sensory information in a pre-set manner.
Schemas affect the reliability of EWT, witnesses aren’t just recalling facts as they happened, they are reconstructing memories.
War of the ghosts
Bartlett (1932) - when Western Cultural participants were told this story it didn’t make sense from a cultural viewpoint.
Upon recall, memory of the story was distorted to fit a Western cultural viewpoint.
Demonstrates how memory can be affected by schemas.
Misleading information and leading questions
Research shows that EWT is affected by experiences occurring after you witness an event.
Tv dramas often show judges accusing the barrister of ‘leading the witness’.
This means they are asking questions which are suggestive of the answer they are looking for.
Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Experiment 1 procedure
45 participants were shown 7 films depicting traffic accidents.
Length of the film segments ranged from 5-30 seconds.
After each film they received a questionnaire.
Critical question: nine subjects asked ‘How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?’
Equal numbers of the remaining subjects were asked the same question except with the verbs smashed, collided, bumped, and contacted instead of hit.
Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Experiment 1 findings
Mean speed estimates Smashed: 40.8 Collided: 39.3 Bumped: 38.1 Hit: 34.0 Contacted: 31.8 More violent verbs, resulted in a higher mean speed estimate.
