Eye Witness Testimony

Question 1

What is eye witness testimony (EWT)?

Answer 1

The legal term for evidence that is provided in court by a person who was a witness to a crime.

Question 2

What are the two main factors affecting eye witness testimony?

Answer 2

• Misleading information.

- Anxiety

Question 3

What forms of misleading information can affect EWT?

Answer 3

• Leading questions

- Post-event discussion

Question 3

What is misleading information?

Answer 3

Incorrect information given to the witness usually after the even has taken place.

Question 4

What are leading questions?

Answer 4

These are questions that may suggest a certain answer depending on how they are worded.

Question 5

What is post-event discussion?

Answer 5

Where two witnesses discuss the crime after it has taken place.

Question 6

Who are the psychologists that conducted research into the effects of leading questions on EWT?

Answer 6

Loftus and Palmer (1974).

Question 8

What did Loftus and Palmer aim to investigate?

Answer 8

The effects of misleading information (leading questions) on the accuracy of eye witness testimony.

Question 9

How many students took part in Loftus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 9

45.

Question 10

What and how many films were the students shown in Loftus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 10

7 films of different car accidents.

Question 11

What were the participants given after the films in Loftus and Palmer’s research?

Answer 11

A questionnaire about the car accidents; there was one critical question.

Question 12

What was the critical question in Loftus and Palmer’s research?

Answer 12

How fast were the cars when they ‘hit’ each other?

Question 13

What changed in the critical question between the 5 groups?

Answer 13

The verb ‘hit’ was changed to ‘smashed’, ‘collided’, ‘bumped’, or ‘contacted’.

Question 14

What did Loftus and Palmer calculate for each condition?

Answer 14

The mean speed estimates.

Question 15

Which word had the highest mean speed estimate?

Answer 15

Smashed.

Question 16

What was the highest mean speed estimate?

Answer 16

40.8 mph.

Question 17

Which word had the lowest mean speed estimate?

Answer 17

Contacted.

Question 18

What was the lowest mean speed estimate?

Answer 18

31.8 mph.

Question 19

What did Loftus and Palmer conclude?

Answer 19

The misleading information in the form of leading questions can affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony and may even cause the information to be changed before it is stored.

Question 20

What are the 5 evaluation points for Loftus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 20

\+ High degree of control over variables.
\+ Practical applications.
- The sample is unrepresentative.
- Low ecological validity.
- Yuille and Cutshall.

Question 21

Who conducted research on the effects of post-event discussion?

Answer 21

Gabbert et al (2003).

Question 22

What did Gabbert et al aim to study?

Answer 22

The effects of post-event discussion on eyewitness testimony.

Question 23

How many participants took part in Gabbert et al’s study?

Answer 23

120; they were put into pairs.

Question 24

What were the pairs of participants shown in Gabbert et al’s study?

Answer 24

A video of a girl returning a borrowed book to an empty university office but from two different angles; one partner saw one angle and the other partner saw the other.

Question 25

What were the two angles of the video in Gabbert et al’s study?

Answer 25

One partner could see the title of the book she was returning, while the other partner could see the girl commit a crime and steal a £10 from a wallet.

Question 26

What did the participants do after they were shown the videos in Gabbert et al’s study?

Answer 26

They discussed what they saw with their partner and then completed an individual test of recall.

Question 27

What percentage of people mistakenly recalled parts of the event they did not actually see in Gabbert et al’s study?

Answer 27

71%.

Question 28

When using a control group, what percentage of people recalled incorrect information when they did not discuss the event with a partner?

Answer 28

0%.

Question 29

What percentage of people claimed the girl was guilty of committing a crime even though they did not see her commit a crime?

Answer 29

60%.

Question 30

What was concluded in Gabbert et al’s study?

Answer 30

Witnesses go along with each other due to ‘memory conformity’.

Question 31

What are the 5 evaluation points of Gabbert et al’s study?

Answer 31

\+ Easy to replicate.
\+ Bodner et al (2009).
\+ Real-life applications.
\+ Positive effect on the economy.
- Mock crimes lack consequences of real crimes.