Eye Witness Testimonys

Question 1

What does EWT refer to

Answer 1

Evidence provide by those recalling an event who were present when the event took pace

Question 2

What did Bartlett state about the influence of schema

Answer 2

• memory is not like a camera
• memory is reconstructed based on previous experience and expectations
• our existing experiences and expectations form schemas
• schemas override what we actually see
• schemas are individual but also reflect cultural expectations and stereotypes all of which can cause distortions in recall

Question 3

What can distortions in recall affect in EWT

Answer 3

Cause a miscarriage of justice

Question 4

2 factors that effect EWT

Answer 4

• misleading information
• anxiety

Question 5

What is the effect of misleading info on EWT

Answer 5

Refers to info that suggests a particular response which is actually not accurate

Question 6

2 types of misleading info

Answer 6

• leading questions
• post event discussion

Question 7

What is a leading question

Answer 7

Questions that increase the likelihood that an individual schemas will influence them to give an inaccurate answer

Question 8

What is post event discussion

Answer 8

• Inaccurate information can be added to a witnesses memory of an event through something they hear mentioned after an event - post event information
• occurs because of co witnesses discussing what they saw

Question 9

Who researched the effect of misleading information

Answer 9

Loftus and palmer

Question 10

Loftus and palmer experiment 1 - effect of leading questions

Answer 10

procedure
- 45 university students were shown 7 video clips of car crashes
- divided it to 5 groups with 9 ptps
- write down their account of what they could recall after each accident
- they where asked the key question how fast were the cars going when they … with each other
- blank was filled with either hit smashed collided bumped or contacted
- ptps estimation of the speed was recorded

Finding
- contacted = 31.8 mph
- hit = 34.0 mph
- bumped = 38.mph
- collided = 39.3 mph
- smashed = 40.8 mph

Conclusion
- demonstrates that the verb used in the question can have an effect on the estimated speed
- supports assumption that leading questions can have an effect on the accuracy of EWT

Question 11

Loftus and palmer - experiment 2 - research into the effect of post event info

Answer 11

Procedure
- 150 students ptps viewed a video of a car crash
- questions on what they saw
- 50 ptps asked a key question (same as experiment 1 ) with word smashed
- 50 ptps asked key question with with word hit
- 50 ptps not asked key question
- 1 week later they where questioned about their memory pf the even and was asked if they saw any Brocken glass - there wasn’t any

Findings
Answer Smashed Hit Control
Yes 16 7 6
No 34 43 44

Conclusion
- misleading info in the form of post event info can affect the accuracy of recall of EWT

Question 12

Gabbert et al - research into post event discussion on accurcay of eye witness testimony

Answer 12

Procedure
- ptps watched a video of girl stealing money from a wallet
- ptps tested individually (controlled) or in pairs (co-witness groups)
- ptps in co witness group were told that they had watched the same video but had seen different perspectives of the same crime and only one person witnessed the girl stealing
- co witness groups discussed crime together
- all ptps completed a questionnaire
- tested uni students and older adults

Findings
- 71% of the witnesses in co witness groups recalled info they had not actually seen
-60% said girl was guilty, despite not seeing her commit the crime
- little difference between groups studied

Conclusion
- post event discussion can have a powerful effect on the accuracy on eye witness testimony

Question 13

What is post event discussion

Answer 13

Discuss what they have seen with other witnesses
Distort their own memory of an event

Question 14

Post event info

Answer 14

Witnesses receive info about the crime
Which can distort their own memory of crime eg through media and police

Question 15

Strengths of research into the effect of misleading questions

Answer 15

Importance of research
- Contributed to better understanding of how misleading information affects EWT
- developed better questioning techniques for police when dealing with witnesses

Question 16

Weaknesses of research into the effect of EWT

Answer 16

Low ecological validity - lab study, artificial tasks cant generalises finding to real world situations

Low population validity - manly studies on students difficult to generalise to wider society however gabbert did study older adults

Ethical issues - psychological harm, ptps deliberate put in distress for the sake of research

Question 17

What can anxiety cause

Answer 17

• bodily arousal (activates physiological stress response
• heightens attention and focus, so an be beneficial

Question 18

What is yerkes Dodson law

Answer 18

Dictates that performance increases with physiological or mental arousal but only up to a a point

Question 19

What happened when arousal becomes to high

Answer 19

Performance decreases

Question 20

How is yerkes-Dodson law illustrated

Answer 20

Inverted u shape curve which increases and decreases with higher levels of arousal

Question 21

How are studies on EWT conflicting

Answer 21

Lab studies suggest that anxiety decreases Ed accuracy where as real life studies contradict this

Question 22

Research into negative effect of anxiety on EWT

Answer 22

Loftus
Procedure
- ptps sat in a waiting room in 2 conditions
- condition 1: ppts overheard a discussion in a laboratory about an equipment failure, a person then emerged from the lab holing a en with grease on his hands
- condition 2: ptps overheard a heated hostile exchange between people n the laboratory, after a series of loud sounds and man emerged from the lab holding a knife and cover in blood
- ptps were then given 50 photos and asked to identify the person who had come out the lab

Findings
- 49% of ptps in condition 1 correctly identified the man
- 33% ptps in conditions 2 correctly identified the man

Conclusion
- anxiety caused by a weapon can divert attention from other important features of a situation as the witness focuses on the weapon

Question 23

Strengths of Loftus study on the effect of anxiety

Answer 23

Lab study
- Easy to control extraneous variables
- easy to replicate

Question 24

Weakness of Loftus study on the effect of anxiety

Answer 24

• lack ecological validity, conducted in a lab, artificial, annotate generalise finding to real life
• ethical issues, psychological harm, put in distress

Question 25

Studies of real life EWT and anxiety

Answer 25

Christianson and huinette
Procedure
- 110 witness of 22 bank robberies were interview 5 months after te robberies
Found
- witness were surprisingly accurate in their recall of the robbers clothing and behaviour, even in those who had been directly treated and subjected to violence

Conclusion
- suggests that anxiety increases and has no effect on EWT

Question 26

Strengths of real life studies of anxiety and EWT

Answer 26

• high ecological validity, can generalise findings
• beneficial use real witness of real crimes

Question 27

Weaknesses of real life studies on anxiety and EWT

Answer 27

• hard to replicate
• less control of extraneous variables eg possible post event discussion or post event info