Eyewitness testimony Flashcards
Study - power ofeyewitness testimony
Loftus (1974)
Method - examined 347 cases in which only evidence was eyewitness testimony
Results - defendant convicted 74% of time
What two types of variables affect eyewitness accuracy? Which stages of memory do they affect? Which type is under control of CJS?
Estimator variables (encoding, storage) System variables (retrieval, CJS-controlled)
What four factors affect encoding?
Situational/witness characteristics (e.g., lighting, eyesight)
Attention - inattentional blindess, change blindness, weapon-focus effect, unusual item hypothesis
Stress and arousal
Cross-race effect
Study - inattentional blindness
Hymen et al. (2010)
Method - field experiment in which clown unicycled on campus in front of students
Results - only 8% of cellphone users noticed clown vs 57% non-cell phone users
Study - stress and arousal effect on ID accuracy
Maass & Konken (1989)
Method - experimenter approaches P with either pen or syringe
Result - more false IDs in syringe condition
Study - stress and arousal in military
Morgan et al. (2004)
Method - US soldiers interrogated in training; either high pressure or low pressure interrogation; then asked to ID interrogator
Results - low stress: 70% correct ID, 25% false ID; high stress: 38% correct ID, 58% false ID
Fuzzy trace theory
Two types of memory - verbatim (details) and gist (emotional content); gist can affect verbatim and vice versa
What are seven factors affecting storage?
Fuzzy trace theory Scripts Source amnesia Witness contamination Unconscious transference Stereotypes Accuracy & investigator bias - post-identification feedback effect
Post-identification feedback effect
Feedback on recalled memory can distort same stored memory
What two factors affect retrieval?
Misinformation effect
Retrieval inhibition
What are two kinds of misinformation effect
Retroactive interference
Source misattribution
