Eyewitness Testimony

Question 1

What is eye witness testimony?

Answer 1

the evidence provided by people who witnessed a particular crime or event. It relies on recall from memory

Question 2

Loftus and Palmer - A study into eye witness testimony

Question 3

Loftus and Zanni - A study into leading questions

Question 4

What is a leading question?

Answer 4

where the answer is implied with the question

Question 5

Shaw et al - how Post-Event Discussion can affect the accuracy of recall

Answer 5

1. Shaw et al - participant + confederate shown video of staged robbery and interviewed afterwards, altering who answered the questions first. When the participant responded first, recall was accurate 58% of the time. When the confederate answered first and gave accurate answers, recall was 67%. If the confederate gave inaccurate answers, correct recall fell to 42%

Question 6

Gabbert et al - how Post-Event Discussion can affect the accuracy of recall

Question 7

Valentine and Coxon - The effect of age on EWT

Question 8

How can anxiety affect focus?

Answer 8

small increases in anxiety = increase the accuracy of memory
high levels of anxiety = negatively effect accuracy
(like a curve, see p24)

Question 9

Loftus - Weapon focus in EWT

Question 10

What two things can affect EWT?

Answer 10

• Anxiety

- Misleading Questions

Question 11

Points against Misleading questions and anxiety not always affecting EWT (4)

Answer 11

1. field study Yuille and Cutshall showed witness of a real gun shooting had remarkably accurate memories of the event
2. thief shot and killed by police, witnesses interviewed. 13 re-interviewed five months later with recall being highly accurate.
3. • researchers included 2 misleading questions but had no effect on subject’s answers
4. • study had high ecological validity but witnesses who experienced the highest levels of stress were also closest to the event - proximity or stress?

Question 12

Why was the cognitive interview technique (CIT) developed and who developed it?

Answer 12

Developed by Geiselman et al, it was designed to help increase accuracy of EWT.

Question 13

What are the 6 steps to the Cognitive Interview Technique (CIT)?

Answer 13

1. interviewer makes witness relaxed, tailoring their language to suit the witness
2. mental recreation of internal (e.g mood) and environmental (e.g sounds) context
3. witness reports EVERYTHING
4. recall details in different orders
5. recall from different perspectives
6. interviewer avoids any judgemental or personal comments

Question 14

Gieselman et al - The effect of the cognitive interview