eye witness testimony Flashcards
what are the 2 factors that affect eyewitness testimony
misleading information
(post event discussion, leading questions)
anxiety
what is the study that shows how leading question affect eye witness testimony
loftus and palmer
1974
explain the procedure of loftus and palmer (1974)
45 participants watched videos of staged car accidents
researchers asked
How fast were the cars going when they ….. each other
what were the findings of loftus and palmers study
the more violent the verb used the faster they thought the cars were going
how do leading questions affect EWT?
response bias
wording influences how they chose to answer
substitution
wording alters the memory of the incident
what is the study that shows how PED has an effect on EWT
Gabbert et al
2003
explain the procedure of Gabbert et al’s study
pair of participants watched videos of a crime from different angles
then the participants discussed what they had seen
what were the findings of Gabbert et al’s study
71% of participants had incorrectly recalled details they hadn’t seen
how does PED affect EWT
memory contamination - the memory of an event is distorted by details from other witnesses when these are combined with the original memory
memory conformity - witnesses may go along with each other to gain social acceptance or because they believe the other accounts are more correct. The memory is unchanged but the reporting is affected
source monitoring - eyewitnesses can recall information about the event but not where it came from. The memory is distorted as the source information is lost
outline the study for the negative effects of anxiety on EWT
participants seat in a waiting room
2 different conditions
low anxiety - heard casual conversation
and saw man walk past carrying a pen with grease on his hands
high anxiety - heard heated argument
breaking glass
saw man walk out of room with knife and hands covered in blood
why can anxiety have a negative impact on recall
creates physiological arousal in the body which prevents us from paying attention to important cues so recall is worse
who carried out the study on how anxiety has a negative impact on EWT
johnson and scott
1976
(how a weapon creates anxiety)
what were the findings of jonhson’s and scott’s study 1976
participants later had to pick out the man they saw from a set of 5o photos
49% who saw man carrying pen were able to identify him
33% who saw man carrying knife could identify him
what were the conclusions of johnson’s and scott’s study
the tunnel theory of memory argues people have enhanced memory for central events
weapon focus as a result of anxiety can have this effect
why can anxiety have a positive effect on recall
the fight or flight response is triggered which increases alertness which may improve memory for the event as we become more aware of cues
who conducted the study on anxiety having a positive impact on recall
yuille and cutshall (1986)
explain the procedure of yuille and cutshaw’s study
research was on gun shop owner shot a thief dead, there was 21 witnesses to the event
but only 13 agreed to take part in research
these 13 were interviewed 4-15 months after the event and these were compared their interview at the time of the event
accuracy was measured in the number of details they could recall
they were asked how stressed they were at the time of the event and they had to rate this on a 7 point scale
what were the findings of yuille and cutshaw’s study
those with the highest levels of stress during the incident had the highest accuracy in recall of details
what is the conclusion to yuille and cutshaw’s study
this suggest anxiety doesn’t haven’t effect on the accuracy of EWT but may actually enhance it
define anxiety
a state of emotional and physical arousal that can affect the accuracy and detail of EWT
in 1998 what did pickle say about johnson and scott’s study
weapons are unusual so Johnson and scott’s study may have been measuring this effect rather than anxiety
what was pickle’s research on the effects of anxiety on ewt
hair salon video featuring a handheld item
scissors
high anxiety
low unusualness
wallet
low anxiety
low unusualness
hand gun
high anxiety
high unusualness
raw chicken
low anxiety
high unusualness
what were the findings of pickle’s research she conducted in 1998
recall was the worst in unusual situations
so the unusualness of the object is causing poorest recall
so johnson and scott’s study tells us nothing about the effect of anxiety on EWT
