eyewitness testimony Flashcards
what are the factors affecting eyewitness testimony
anxiety, misleading information
two types of misleading information
leading questions, post event discussion
what is eyewitness testimony
a legal term referring to the use of eyewitness to give evidence in court
What is a leading question?
A leading question is one that suggests a certain answer due to the way it is phrased, potentially distorting an eyewitness’s memory.
What did Loftus and Palmer (1974) investigate?
They investigated the effects of leading questions on EWT, specifically how different verbs in a question affected participants’ estimates of car crash speeds.
what were the 2 experiments in Loftus and palmers study
experiment 1-see if speed estimates would change depending on the wording of the question. Used two different verbs ‘hit’ and ‘smashed’
experiment 2- see if the leading Q just changed the responses or actually altered the ppts memory
what was the procedure of experiment 1 in Loftus and palmers study
45 students
lab experiment
each ppt watched 7 films of traffic accidents and were presented in a different order to each group
given a questionnaire
asked”how fast they were going when they…” but changed the verb
blank was filled with either hit,smashed, collided
what was the procedure of experiment 2 in Loftus and palmers study
150 students
a film of a car accident followed by a questionnaire
did the same in experiment 1
came back a week later and rewatched the video
ppts were asked “did you see any smashed glass” but there was no broken glass
the ppts who were asked using the word “smashed” were more likely to say yes
What was the key finding regarding the verb ‘smashed’ in Loftus and Palmer’s study?
Participants given the verb ‘smashed’ estimated higher speeds (40.8 mph) than those given ‘contacted’ (31.8 mph), showing that leading questions can distort memory.
What is post-event discussion?
Post-event discussion occurs when witnesses discuss an event with others, which can lead to memory and distortion.
how did gabbert study post event discussion
ppts were studied in pairs
watched a video of the same crime from different points of view so one ppt saw something that the other didn’t
discussed what they had seen in the video
what did gabbert find about post event discussion
71% of ppts recalled things they did not see in the video. in the control group where there was no discussion it was 0%. he concluded witnesses go along with each other because they believe the other ppts is write and they are wrong.
evaluation of misleading information -real life application to legal system
P- a strength of research investigating EWT is is application to the criminal justice system which relies heavily on EWT for prosecuting crimes
E-Research into misleading information has led to practical improvements, such as training police officers to use the cognitive interview and avoid leading questions.
E-psychological research has been used to warn the justice system of problems with EWT.This has helped reduce wrongful convictions which recent DNA can show, as seen in cases where eyewitness misidentifications have led to false imprisonment.
L-Therefore, the research has high external validity as it has improved real-world legal practices.
evaluation of misleading information -supporting evidence
P- a strength of misleading information is that there is supporting evidence
E-Their study showed that participants who heard the verb “smashed” estimated higher car speeds than those who heard “contacted.” A follow-up study also found that participants in the “smashed” condition falsely recalled seeing broken glass.
E-This supports the idea that leading questions can distort memory
L-Therefore, Loftus and Palmer’s research provides strong experimental evidence that misleading information affects eyewitness testimony.
evaluation of misleading information- individual differences
P-a limitation of research into EWT is concerns of individual differences of witness
E-. an eyewitness acquires information from two sources from observing the event itself and misleading information. Studies have found that compared to younger people, elderly people have difficulty remembering the source of their information even though their memory for the information itself is unimpaired
E- as a result they become more prone to the effect of misleading information when giving a testimony
L- this suggests that individual differences age in particular are an important factor when assessing the reliability of EWT
evaluation of misleading information-low ecological validity
P- a limitation of research into EWT is that most research has low ecological validity.
E-Most research on misleading information, such as Loftus and Palmer, has been conducted in highly controlled laboratory settings using video footage of crimes rather than real-life events.This means that participants may not experience the same level of emotional arousal or stress as they would in a genuine eyewitness situation.
E-This is a problem because real-life memory recall is often influenced by emotions such as anxiety, which may actually enhance recall rather than distort it.Yuille and Cutshall (1986) found that witnesses to a real armed robbery in Canada had highly accurate recall even months later, and those who were more stressed had even better recall
L- This suggests that misleading information may have less influence on real life EWT than Loftus suggests.
What is anxiety in the context of eyewitness testimony (EWT)?
Anxiety is a state of emotional and physical arousal, often triggered by stressful or threatening situations, which can influence memory recall in eyewitnesses.
What is the weapon focus effect?
The weapon focus effect suggests that when a weapon is present, a witness focuses on it rather than on other details, reducing the accuracy of their recall.
Which study investigated the weapon focus effect?
Johnson and Scott (1976) conducted a study to examine how anxiety affects eyewitness memory. it was carried out to investigate the effect of a weapon on eyewitness testimony accuracy
What did Johnson and Scott (1976) find regarding low-anxiety participants?
Participants in the low-anxiety condition correctly identified the man 49% of the time.
What did Johnson and Scott (1976) find regarding high-anxiety participants?
Those in the high-anxiety (weapon) condition correctly identified him only 33% of the time.
What does Johnson and Scott’s (1976) study support?
This supports the idea that anxiety (caused by the weapon) reduces the accuracy of eyewitness recall.
evaluation of Johnson and Scott-deception
P- deception is a limitation of Johnson and Scotts study
E- they were sitting in the waiting room waiting for the experiment to begin when it was part of the real experiemnt.
E- this matters because some of the ppts may not of agreed to take part in an experiment that exposes a knife and it may cause anxiety.
E- however it was necessary for Johnson and Scott to deceive ppts in order to reduce demand characteristics so they don’t second guess the hypothesis
L-therfore although ppts were deceived it was necessary
What is the Yerkes-Dodson Law?
The Yerkes-Dodson Law suggests that moderate levels of anxiety improve recall, but too much or too little anxiety impairs memory.
How does the inverted-U theory explain the effect of anxiety on memory?
It proposes that memory performance is best at a moderate level of anxiety and declines when anxiety is either too low or too high.
evaluation into research of anxiety-ssues with weapon focus effect
P- a criticism of the weapon focus effect is that it has been suggested that the Johnson and Scott study is actually testing surprise not anxiety
E-pickel conducted an experiment using scissors, handgun, a wallet and a raw chicken as the handheld items in a hairdressing video
E- They found that eyewitness accuracy was poorer in the high unsualness conditions (chicken and handgun)
L- This therefore supports that the weapon focus effect is because of surprise not anxiety
evaluation into research of anxiety-issues with weapon focus effect
evaluation into research of anxiety- ethical issues
P – Ethical concerns and practical applications
E: Research on anxiety and EWT raises ethical concerns, particularly in lab studies where participants may be subjected to distressing situations (e.g., exposure to violent crime videos). Deliberately inducing anxiety can cause psychological harm, violating ethical guidelines.
E: However, such research is still valuable for practical applications. Findings have led to improvements in police interviews, such as using the cognitive interview to reduce stress and avoid leading questions, making eyewitness recall more reliable.
L: Therefore, while ethical concerns exist, research into anxiety and EWT has real-world benefits by improving legal practices and ensuring more accurate testimonies in court.
evaluation into research of anxiety- yerkes Dodson law
P – The Yerkes-Dodson Law explains both positive and negative effects of anxiety
E: The Yerkes-Dodson Law provides a useful explanation for the mixed findings on anxiety and EWT. It states that memory performance improves with moderate levels of anxiety but deteriorates when anxiety is too high or too low
E: This explains why some studies (e.g., Johnson and Scott) show poor recall under high anxiety, while others (e.g., Yuille and Cutshall) show enhanced memory at moderate anxiety levels. It suggests that real-life crime situations, where moderate anxiety is likely, may lead to better memory retention, whereas extreme stress in lab settings may impair recall.
L: This model helps reconcile conflicting findings, but it remains difficult to objectively measure anxiety levels in different individuals, making it hard to establish cause and effect in EWT research.
