eyewitness testimony Flashcards
misleading info: loftus and palmer
aim= to test that the language used in eyewitness testimony can alter memory.
procedure: 45 students watched 7 clips of car crashes. after each, they were asked about the speed of the cars. 5 groups were- smashed, collided, bumped, bumped,hit, contacted.
Findings=
smashed-40.8
collided-39.3
bumped-38.1
hit-34
contacted-31.8
-proves leading questions influence how they decide their answer, not memory.
post event discussion=gabbert et al (2003)
aim=investigate the effect of post event discussion as a factor affecting the accuracy of EWT.
PROCEDURE=participants were placed, watched the same video but from 2 different veiws. Asked to discuss or not.
findings=71%who had a discussion reported things they were told but hadnt seen. (memory conformity)
AO3 evaluation of misleading info=
+real world application
-involves atrificial tasks
- demand characteristics
Johnson and Scott (1976) aim
If anxiety affects the accuracy of eyewitness testimony and facial recognition.
Johnson and Scott (1976) Procedure (Anxiety has a negative effect on recall)
Led participants to believe they were taking part in a lab study and told to wait in the waiting room.
-P’s heard an argument in the next room
in the low anxiety condition, a man walked through the waiting area, carrying a pen and his hand was covered in grease
-in the high anxiety group - the other participants heard the same argument, but this time heard glass smashing and the man walked out of the room with a paper knife covered in blood
Johnson and scott (1976) Findings
Asked Participants to identify man from 50 photos-
49% identified man with pen
33% man with knife
Johnson and scott (1976) conclusion
Tunnel theory argues witness’ attention narrows to focus on weapon due to it being a source of anxiety
Limitations- Johnson and Scott
Lacks ecological validity
Ethics- Possible psychological harm to pps and deception
May test surprise rather than anxiety (tells us nothing specifically about effects of anxiety on EWT)
Strengths- Johnson and Scott
lab study- high internal validity due to control over variables
Yuille and Cutshall (1986) aim
To investigate the accuracy of recall of eye witnesses to a real crime, in response to leading questions and over time.
Yuille and Cutshall (1986) procedure (anxiety has a positive effect on recall)
study of a real life shooting in Vancouver, Canada. Owner shot thief- interviews held 4-5 months later, 13/21 witnesses participated. compared with original police interviews. Accuracy determined by number of details recalled. Witnesses rated stress using 7-point scale and asked if they had any emotional problems after event, such as sleeplessness.
Yuille and Cutshall (1986) findings
Witnesses were still very accurate several months later (around five) and the witnesses closest to the event could recall the most detail. 10/13 saw no broken headlight. Misleading questions did not effect their accuracy and those who had experienced the most anxiety (on the scale) at the time were the most accurate five months later.
Yuille and Cutshall (1986) conclusion
They concluded that Anxiety CAN improve memory in real life situations despite weapon focus.
witnesses were extremely accurate which shows that memory in real life crimes appears to be a lot better than shown in lab studies
Limitations- Yuille and Cutshall
- Low reliability, one-off unique case study which cannot be replicated
- Extraneous variables could not have been controlled e.g. post event discussion and overwhelm effects of anxiety and contaminate study
- unrepresentative- not all witnesses interviewed
Strengths- Yuille and Cutshall
High ecological validity- actual event gathering realistic data
+ High mundane realism- pps experienced real anxiety in everyday life
+ Valid and qualitative data- more in depth and specific
+ Can be used to criticise the research of Loftus and Palmer
