Eyewitness Testimony✅ Flashcards
Eye witness testimony
An account given by people of an event they have witnessed
Causes of inaccuracies
Leading questions
Post event discussion
Anxiety
Who studied misleading information
Loftus and palmer
Who studied anxiety
Loftus
Who’s studied cognitive interview
Geiselmann
Loftus and palmer procedure
45 students watched a film and then asked questions about what they had seen. All groups had the same question but the verb was changed to either smashed, bumped, or contacted.
Loftus and palmer findings
Found that the verb affected the speed estimates. Smashed had the highest and contacted had the lowest
Methodological issues with loftus and palmer
All participants were students so can’t generalise to anyone else
Was in a lab so it’s controlled and no external factors
Watched a film so can’t generalise to life as they weren’t at the scene
Ethical issues of loftus and palmer
Not protected from harm, psychological harm as the film was disturbing so they may have been traumatised and caused anxiety
Who supported loftus and palmer
Loftus and zanni
Loftus and zanni procedure
A week later the participants were questioned again, but asked if they seen broken glass
Findings of loftus and zanni
The people who had the smashed question previously were more likely to say they had seen broken glass than the people who answered the contacted question
Who studied anxiety effecting the accuracy of eye witness
Loftus, the weapon effect
Loftus’s weapon effect study aim
To investigate the effect of anxiety and stress on eyewitness recall
Loftus’s weapon effect procedure
There was two conditions, both groups say outside of lab listening to two different convos. One was a peaceful convo where a main come out with greasy hands. The other one was an aggressive violent convo where a man Came out with a bloody knife. Participants were shown 50 photos and asked to identify the man
The weapon effect findings
The people who listened to the violent scene were less accurate in identifying the man than the group who listened to the peaceful scene
Weapon effect conclusion
Loftus concluded that anxiety narrowed the attention of the witness and took attention to the bloody knife, so anxiety effects recall
Methodological issues with weapon effect
Lab experiment so it’s controlled, no external factors so can establish cause and effect
However lacks ecological validity so can’t generalise to real life
Ethical issues with weapon effect
Deception- were deceived into thinking they were real convos
Protection from harm- psychologically harmed as they showed anxiety
What study contradicts loftus’s weapon effect
Christianson and hubinette
Christianson and hubinette procedure
Carried out a survey of 110 people who had witnessed between them 22 bank robberies. Some of these had been bystanders and others had been directly threatened by robbers
Findings of christianson and hubinette
People who been threatened and showed the most anxiety showed more detailed and accurate recall than out lookers
Conclusion of christianson and hubinette
They are contradicting loftus’s study as it shows more anxiety results in better recall
Who studied cognitive interview
Geiselmann
Geiselmanns aim
Investigate the effectiveness of cognitive interview
Procedure of geiselmann’s study
89 participants were shown police training films. Two days later they were interviewed by a police officer, using either cognitive interview, standard police interview or an interview using hypnosis. They were recorded and assessed on right or wrong answers
Findings of geiselmanns study
The cognitive interview had the most accurate recall
Conclusion of geiselmanns study
Showing that cognitive interview is the most effective way of recalling accurate information on events
Methodological issues of geiselmanns study
In a lab so,It’s controlled no external factors and can establish cause and effect
Ethical issues of geiselmanns study
Protection from harm, weren’t protected from psychological harm from the violent scenes may have caused anxiety or stress
Limitations of geiselmanns study
Cognitive interview has proven not very successful when interviewing children. He reviewed a number of studies and found children under 6 were less accurate in recalling events. Therefore this is probs because they find instructions more difficult to understand
