Eyewitness Testimonies

Question 1

Describe an eyewitness testimony

Answer 1

An account or evidence provided by people who witnessed an event

Question 2

What factors can affect the reliability of EWT?

Answer 2

leading questions
post event discussion
anxiety

Question 3

Who conducted the study which gives evidence for the effect of misleading questions?

Answer 3

Loftus and Palmer

Question 4

What was the sample used in the first study?

Answer 4

45 uni students

Question 5

What were participants asked to do in loft us and palmers first study?

Answer 5

Shown a stimulated car crash and asked to estimate the speed at which the car was travelling at

Question 6

How many conditions were there?

Answer 6

5 conditions

Question 7

What were the 5 words used for each condition?

Answer 7

Smashed
Collided
Bumped
Hit
Contacted

Question 8

What were the average speed estimates for each condition?

Answer 8

Smashed- 40.5mph
Collided- 39.3mph
Bumped- 38.1mph
Hit34.0mph
Contacted- 31.8mph

Question 9

In l&f second study what’s the sample used?

Answer 9

150 student

Question 10

How many conditions ere there in the second study?

Answer 10

3

Question 11

What were the three words used in the individual conditions?

Answer 11

1) hit
2) smashed
3) no question- control group

Question 12

For those in condition one, how many claimed that they saw broken glass

Answer 12

16

Question 13

For those in condition 1, (smashed) how many claimed that they didn’t see broken glass?

Answer 13

34

Question 14

For those in condition 2, (hit)how many claimed that they saw broken class?

Answer 14

7

Question 15

For those in condition 2, how many claimed that they didn’t see broken class?

Answer 15

43

Question 16

For those in condition 2, how many claimed that they didn’t see broken class?

Answer 16

6

Question 17

For those in condition 3, how many claimed that they didn’t see broken glass?

Answer 17

44

Question 18

What do these results from both studies conducted by L&P suggest to us?

Answer 18

The type of word used to form a leading question can influence the accuracy of EWT and it shows that Leading questions can reconstruct our memories of an event

Question 19

Evaluate the validity of their studies

Answer 19

Demand characteristics: participants may have guessed the aim of the study thus answered the way the experimenter would want them to.
Participants didn’t actually experience the event thus had it been a real life situation, they would have experienced s greater emotional response that could have effected their memory

Question 20

Applications of the effects of leading questions

Answer 20

Can be used to train the police not to use leading questions if they wish to get an accurate recall of information about a crime scene from witnesses