Eyewitness Testimony

Question 1

Eyewitness testimony

Answer 1

Evidence provided in court by a person who witnessed a crime incident with the intention of identify the perpetrator

Question 2

Leading questions

Answer 2

A question that by its form and content suggests to a witness what answer is desired or leads them to a desired answer

Question 3

Post event discussion

Answer 3

Information discussed after the event which could influence a person’s memory of the event

Question 4

Loftus and Palmer - Leading Questions

Answer 4

45 participants (American students)- 5 groups
Watched seven films of a car accident
Given a series of specific questions and one critical question that differed between the groups
“How fast were the cars going when they ( ) each other”
Each group was given: hit, smashed, collided, bumped, contacted

Question 5

Findings of Loftus and Palmer- Leading Questions

Answer 5

The more impactful the verb was (smashed), the higher the estimated speed was (40.8) compared to less impactful verbs (contacted-31.8)

Question 6

Strengths of EWT

Answer 6

Reliability (Loftus)
Real Life Application (Loftus)

Question 7

Weakness of EWT

Answer 7

Lacks validity- artificiality
Contradictory Real Life Research

Question 8

Johnson and Scott- Anxiety

Answer 8

Two conditions- high and low anxiety
Participants sat outside a laboratory where they thought they could hear a genuine discussion between two people

Low anxiety- peaceful conversation about stationery- man emerges holding a pen with ink on his hands

High anxiety-heated conversation with breaking glass- man emerges with knife with blood

Question 9

Findings and Conclusion of Johnson and Scott- Anxiety

Answer 9

Low anxiety- 49% accurately identified man
High anxiety- 33% accurately identified man

Heightened anxiety and emotional arousal reduces accuracy of recall
Due to weapon focus effect

Question 10

Lofts and Burns- Anxiety

Answer 10

Two conditions
Participants watched a non violent and violent version of a robbery
(In violent version, a boy is shot in the face)

Question 11

Findings and conclusion of Loftus and Burns- Anxiety

Answer 11

Participants in non-violent version recalled significantly more details

Heightened anxiety and emotional arousal due to shock disrupts memory storage and thus recall of details

Question 12

Strength of research into the effects of anxiety on EWT

Answer 12

Loftus’ research is highly replicable

Question 13

Limitations of research into the effects of anxiety on EWT

Answer 13

Lacks validity
Contradictory life research- Christianson and Hubinette
Ethical issues

Question 14

Cognitive Interview

Answer 14

Police technique which encourages witnesses to recreate the original context using four structured stages

Question 15

Context Reinstatement

Answer 15

Encouraging interviewee to mentally recreate environment and how they were feeling by thinking back to before, during and after an event.

Question 16

Why is context reinstatement effective?

Answer 16

Mental consistency between incident and mental recreation leads to greater recall

Mental recreation will triggers details of the actual event

Question 17

Report Everything

Answer 17

Report every detail about event even if it seems trivial.

Question 18

Why is the Report Everything technique effective?

Answer 18

Unrestrained recall reveals details that are mentally ‘edited out’
Interviewer gets all the relevant details and can judge what is important

May uncover info that acts as a cue for more info

Question 19

Recall from a Changed Perspective

Answer 19

Mentally recreate the situation from the perspective of others people who were present at the incident

Question 20

Why is ‘Recall from Changed Perspective’ effective?

Answer 20

Less likely to rely on schemas to remember an event as you’re compelled to change perspective

Leads to more accurate recall

Question 21

Recall in reverse order

Answer 21

Encouraging interviewee to describe event in reverse order or start from memorable scene and work backwards

Question 22

Why is ‘Recall in Reverse Order’ effective?

Answer 22

Less likely to rely on schemas as you’re compelled to recall in reverse order

Can verify accuracy of original testimony when described in chronological order

Question 23

Strengths of cognitive interview

Answer 23

Improved recall- Milne and Bull
Suppler for effectiveness- Geiselman et al

Question 24

Limitations of cognitive interview

Answer 24

Requires significant time and resources
Increases inaccurate information

Question 25

Limitations of cognitive interview

Answer 25

Requires significant time and resources
Increases inaccurate information