Eyewitness testimony Flashcards
Memory is constructive. What does this mean?
We actively process and interpret info we encode to identify the most relevant info
In the encoding stage, we form two types of representations. What are they?
Which lasts longer?
Gist representations (the general essence of an event; last longer than verbatim representations) Verbatim representations (literal details of an event)
What type of representations do younger children emphasise? What are the implications for forgetting?
Younger children emphasise verbatim representations so forget more
Younger children do form gist representations, but don’t emphasise them as much as older children and adults
At what age are children most susceptible to suggestibility?
What is suggestibility?
Young children (<6yo) are most susceptible to suggestibility (info presented after an event but before recall is integrated into the memory - this info is sometimes misleading)
What is the fantasy-reality distinction?
At what age do children have problems with this? What are the implications for eyewitness testimony?
Ability to differentiate between reality (what really happened) and fantasy (what was imagined or drawn)
5-7yo have problems with reality monitoring - child eyewitnesses are sometimes asked to imagine/draw event then are asked if it really occurred - young children are likely to report the imagined event as real
Open-ended questions ensure child eyewitnesses give…
What is one problem with this type of question?
Accurate and relevant info
Some info may be omitted
When young children ______ ______ they recall more info (Butler et al., 1995).
Think deeply - 5/6yo visited a fire station then were asked to draw and talk about the visit; these children recalled more than children who didn’t draw and talk about the visit (Butler et al., 1995)
What is monitoring internal consistency?
Who is this an issue for?
A metacognitive process where we monitor everything we say to ensure it’s consistent
Children find this hard
