Eye Witness Testimony Flashcards
What is Eye Witness Testimony?
EWT is the evidence provided in court by a person who has witnessed a crime / incident with a view to identifying the perpetrator of the crime
The accuracy of EWT can be affected by leading questions and misleading information
Outline leading questions briefly
A leading question is one that by its form or content, suggests to the witness what answer is desired or leads them to a desired answer
Eg what was the person wearing is an open question
What colour was the man’s hat was a leading question
Outline leading question using Loftus and Palmers study
Aim was to investigate the effect of leading questions in distorting the accuracy of EWT
Procedure: lab experiment w independent groups design
45 American students shown 7 films of car diff accidents
After each film asked questions including 1 critical question
About how fast were the cars going when they ———— each other?
Ppts split in 5 groups and each group asked question w different verb (hit, smashed, collided, bumped, contacted)
IV = wording of Q and DV = speed reported by ppt in mph
Findings: estimated speed was affected by verb used, group given word ‘smashed’ estimated highest speed (40.8mph) and the group given word ‘contacted’ estimated lowest speed (31.8mph)
What was concluded from Loftus and Palmers study into leading questions?
Language can have a distorting effect on EWT. This can lead to inaccurate accounts of witnessed events
Original memory could have been reconstructed, replaced or experienced interference
Has important implications for the questions used in police interviews for eyewitnesses
Outline post event discussion
PED is any info discussed after event which could influence persons memory of event (includes discussion w other witnesses, news reports, chat w friends and family etc)
Results in EWT becoming contaminated because they combine mis(information) from other witnesses w their own memories
Memory conformity is when witnesses go along with each others accounts for social approval or because they believe they are right
Source monitoring can occur, where alternative accounts are heard by individuals causing confusion and distortion in memory
Outline PED using Gabbert et als research (2003)
Aim was to investigate effects of PED on distorting the accuracy of EWT
Procedure: lab experiment
Experimental group
Paired ppts watched video same simulated robbery from diff angles, both ppts discussed what saw (PED) and then completed recall test individually
Control group watched same video but didn’t take part in PED
Findings:
71% ppts in experimental group mistakenly recalled aspects of event which didn’t see in video but picked up during PED
60% said girl was guilty (not seen her commit crime from that angle)
0% control group made errors
What did Gabbert et al conclude from his research into post event discussion?
Concluded witnesses go along w each other, for social approval or backseat believe they are right
These findings have implications for forensic psychology eg ensuring police gather info from witnesses immediately after crime to avoid PED from distorting accuracy of EWT
