Eyewitness - Misleading Info (AO1) Flashcards
Who investigated misleading information as a factor affecting eyewitness testimony?
Loftus & Palmer (1974)
Gabbert et al (2003)
More specifically what did Loftus & Palmer research?
Leading Questions
How do leading questions affect EWT?
lq can alter a person’s memory or perception of an event because it suggests a certain answer
e.g. “was the knife in the mans left hand?”
What are the 2 ways leading qs affect EWT??
Response-Bias Explanation:
this suggests the wording of the q has no effect on the ppts memories but just influences how they describe the answer
Substitution Explanation:
the wording of the q actually changes the memories
What was the Procedure of Loftus & Palmer’s study?
students taking part in a lab experiment watched clips of car accidents + afterwards ppts were asked to describe what happened
Experiment A:
leading question - “ about how fast were the cars going when they (smashed/ bumped/ collided/ hit/ contacted) each other?
Experiment B:
same as above but one week later asked if they saw any broken glass as well - only 3 groups (smashed, hit + control)
What experimental design was L+P study & why?
independent groups design - each group had a different verb in the leading q
What were the Findings of L+P’s experiment A?
ppts had to estimate the speed of the cars in the collision
‘smashed’ = 41mph
‘contacted’ = 32mph
= supports response-bias explanation
What were the Findings of L+P’s experiment B?
ppts in the ‘smashed’ condition reported seeing broken glass more than ‘hit’ condition
- even though there wasn’t any broken glass!
= supports substitution explanation
More specifically what did Gabbert et al research?
Post-Event Discussion
How does post-event discussion affect EWT?
when co-witnesses come together to discuss an event as it has happened their testimonies may become contaminated - by combining misinformation from other witnesses with their own memories
PED occurs when there is more than one witness to an event
What was the Procedure of Gabbert et al’s study?
- 60 older ppl & 60 students used
- ppts in pairs had to watch a video of a girl stealing money from a wallet, but filmed from different perspectives
- each ppt could see elements in the event that the other could not (e.g. only 1 actually saw the girl stealing)
- the pairs then discussed what they had seen before individually completing a test of recall
What were the Findings of Gabbert et al’s study?
- 71% of witnesses recalled info they hadn’t acc seen
- 60% said the girl was guilty, despite not acc having seen her commit the crime themselves
- in the control group the figures for these were 0%
What did Gabbert et al say about the findings?
called this phenomenon memory conformity
(they go along with the other to win social approval OR bc they think that the other witness is right & they are wrong )
