Eye Witness Testimony

Question 1

What are the 2 types of misleading info ?

Answer 1

. Leading questions
. Post event discussion

Question 2

What was Lotus and Palmers study ?

Answer 2

. 45 students shown 7 films of traffic accidents
. One question where critical word ‘hit’ was changed
. Hit = 34mph Smashed = 40mph

Question 3

What are the 3 evaluation points for misleading information ?

Answer 3

. Real life application
. Tasks are artificial
. Individual differences

Question 4

What is a post event discussion ?

Answer 4

When there is more than 1 witness to an event

Question 5

What is Fiona Gabbert et al’s study ?

Answer 5

. Studied participants in pairs
Experimental V control group
Experimental group discussed what they’d seen
. 71% of experimental group mistakenly recalled aspects

Question 6

What is the evaluation for post event discussions

Answer 6

. real life application

Question 7

What is anxiety ?

Answer 7

Unpleasent emotional state where we fear something bad is going to happen

Question 8

What research to show anxiety has a NEGATIVE effect ?

Answer 8

Johnson and Scott
participants in a waiting room when they hear an argument in the next room and see a man leaving with an item
. Condition A) person holding pen
. Condition B) person holding blooded knife

Participants shown 50 photos asked to identify the person who left the room
^ showed anxiety had a neagtive effect only 33% accuracy on second condition - tunnel theory

Question 9

What research to show anxiety has a POSITIVE effect ?

Answer 9

Youille and Cutshall
Real life shooting - 13/21 witnesses agreed to study
Interviewed 4-5 months after - compared to original police interview
Witnesses rated how stressed they felt at the time
^Proved anxiety had a positive effect - 88% accuracy

Question 10

What is the evaluation for Johnson and Scott ?

Answer 10

. lab experiment
. ethical issues
. temporal validity

Question 11

What is the evaluation for Youille and Cutshall ?

Answer 11

. Ethical issues
. Temporal validity - study done in 1986
. Real life study

Question 12

What is Yerkes Dodson law ?

Answer 12

low anxiety - low accuracy
Optimal level of anxiety - max accuracy
^ any more anxiety accuracy will decline rapidly

Question 13

What did Fisher and Geiselman identify ?

Answer 13

problems with traditional police interviews, too many issues with leading questions

Question 14

What are the 4 stages of cognitive interviews ?

Answer 14

. report everything
. reinstate the context
. change (reverse) the order
. change perspective

Question 15

What is the evaluation for coginitive interviews ?

Answer 15

. research support
Geiselman: participants viewed film of violent crime, interviewed 48 hours later
3 conditions: cognitive interview highest accuracy at 41%

. Time consuming

. Research support
Milne and Ball found “report everything and “context reinstatement” produced better recall

Question 16

What is the enhanced cognitive interview ?

Answer 16

Fischer developed additional elements to the cognitive interview
- when to avoid eye contact
- avoid distractions
- reducing EW anxiety
- ask open questions
- getting witnesses to speak slowly

Question 17

What is the evaluation for the enhanced cognitive interview ?

Answer 17

Kohnken: meta analysis - 50 studies
- enhanced cognitive interview consistently provided more correct info