eyewitness testimony and cognitive interview

Question 1

eyewitness testimony definition

Answer 1

evidence provided by people who were present when an event took place

Question 2

false memories definition

Answer 2

a memory that didn’t happen but feels like it did or a memory thats not fully accurate

Question 3

leading question definition and it’s affect on EWT

Answer 3

a question that suggests somethings happened and makes you believe something was present - can alternate peoples original ideas of a memory

Question 4

factors that may affect EWT

Answer 4

emotion - may be traumatic
age - memory gets worse in time
time since the event

Question 5

memory as a reconstructive process definition

Answer 5

memories arnt like a video recording and are recontructed based on schemas (a readiness to interpret sensory info in a pre determined way) - often recall of events is matched with our schemas and our understanding of the world - if new info doesnt make sense we unconsciously change it

Question 6

the 2 types of misleading information

Answer 6

1 leading questions
2 post-event dicussions

Question 7

leading question study Loftus and Palmer

Answer 7

shown a car accident, one critical question ‘how fast were the cars going when they … each other’ - calculated the mean estimate speed for the ver used
smashed = 40.8
collided = 39.3
bumped = 38.1
hit = 34
contacted = 31.8
- a week later p’s were questioned and asked ‘did you see any broken glass’ and the ‘smashed’ p’s were most likely to say yes
-in conclusion the verb used implied certain details about the incident and distorted reactions

Question 8

leading question study Loftus and Zanni

Answer 8

p’s shown a brief clip of a car accident and were asked q’s about what they had seen - half asked ‘did you see a broken headlight’ and other half asked ‘did you see the broken headlight’ when there wasn’t a broken headlight - ones who were asked ‘a’ 7% said yes, those who were asked ‘the’ 17% said yes
-in conclusion using the instead of a implanted the idea that there was a broken headlight so it led p’s to change their recall

Question 9

post-event discussion definition

Answer 9

a potential source of misleading information where witnesses discuss what they saw after an event

Question 10

post-event discussion study - Gabbert et al method

Answer 10

sample of 60 students from uni of Aberdeen and 60 older adults from a local community - p’s watched a video of a girl stealing money from a wallet - p’s were either tested individually (control group) or tested in pairs (co-witness group) - p’s in co-witness group were told they had seen the same video but they had seen different perspectives of the crime and only one witnessed the girl stealing, they discussed the crime together and then the p’s completed a questionnaire testing their memory of the event

Question 11

post-event dicussion study - Gabbert et al findings and conclusion

Answer 11

-71% of the witnesses in co-witness group recalled info they hadn’t actually seen, 60% said the girl was guilty when they hadn’t seen her commit the crime
-in conclusion these results highlight the issue of post-event discussion and the effect this has on eye-witness testimony

Question 12

leading question research evaluation

Answer 12

-controlled lab experiment = controlled but lacks mundane realism
- Loftus and Palmers research lacks population validity as they used 150 American students who could be argued as less experienced drivers so less accurate at estimating speeds and cant generalise findings to older and more experienced drivers
-a strength of Loftus and Palmers research is it has ecological validity as a car crash is an everyday event however they watched it on a video and watched it unfold from start to finish which doesn’t happen in real life

Question 13

post-event discussion - Gabbert et al evaluation

Answer 13

-lacks ecological validity as they watched a video so not as realistic
-good population validity as didn’t only use students
-unable to conclude why the distortion occurs and it could be the result of poor memory, individual differences or pressures to conform

Question 14

anxiety definition

Answer 14

a state of emotional arousal where there is a feeling of apprehension or uncertainty triggered by a real or perceived threat at an event

Question 15

anxiety research Johnson and Scott - method and results and tunnel theory

Answer 15

led p’s to think they were taking part in a lab study and while seated in waiting room heard an argument next door - in low anxiety condition a man walked out carrying a pen with grease on his hands and In the high anxiety condition they heard the argument with breaking glass and the man walked out with a paper knife covered in blood
-later on p’s picked out the man from a set of 50 photos, 49% identified man with pen, 33% identified man with knife and ‘tunnel theory’ says a witnesses attention focuses on weapon as a source of high anxiety

Question 16

anxiety research Loftus and Burns - method, results and conclusion

Answer 16

p’s were shown a violent film of crime including a boy being shot in the head and some shown a non-violent video
- it was found p’s had significantly impaired or reduced recall of the events leading up to shooting compared to p’s who watched non-violent video
=anxiety can impair physical and cognitive functioning

Question 17

anxiety research Yuille and Cutshall method and results

Answer 17

conducted a real life shooting in a gun shop where the shop owner shot a thief dead - 21 witnesses and 13 agreed to take part in the study - interviews were 4-5 months after the incident and were compared with original interviews at the time of the shooting - accuracy reported by number of details and witnesses were asked to rate how stressed they are and any emotional problems since the event
-it was found witnesses were very accurate and p’s who reported highest level of stress were most accurate

Question 18

Yerkes-Dodson law applied to EWT

Answer 18

lower levels of anxiety produces lower recall accuracy but memory becomes more accurate as anxiety increases however a point comes where optimal level of anxiety is reached
inverted U - recall is most accurate in-between low and high anxiety

Question 19

anxiety research evaluations

Answer 19

-lab studies so lacks mundane realism
-weapon focus effect may not be relevant in Johnson and Scotts study, may test surprise rather than anxiety, Pickel conducted an experiment in a hair salon using scissors, a handgun, a wallet or raw chicken and it was find the highest unusual conditions (handgun and chicken) produced lowest accuracy
-usually interview p’s after the event and cant control any discussions of the event that may have happened in the process so these EV’s could be responsible for accuracy of recall
-ethical issues risking people to psychological harm by creating anxiety however benefits may outweigh issues

Question 20

RCOP - cognitive interview

Answer 20

report everything
reinstate the context
reverse the order
change perspective

Question 21

cognitive interview research Geiselman

Answer 21

compared number of correct items recalled by witnesses with a standard and cognitive interview - number of correct items recalled = 42 for CI and 30 for SI, incorrect items = 9 for both and confabulated items = 2 for both

Question 22

enhanced cognitive interview definition

Answer 22

aims to build a trusting relationship between interviewer and witness by knowing when to establish and relinquish eye contact, minimising distractions and asking open-ended questions etc

Question 23

strengths of cognitive interview

Answer 23

-more than 50 studies on CI and has been consistently shown to be an extremely good method
-Milne and Bull found each of the 4 elements were equally valuable and each produced more info however found a combination of report everything+context reinstatement produced best recall = increases credibility

Question 24

limitations of cognitive interview

Answer 24

-police have been concerned that the change of perspective element may mislead the witness into making confabulations
-more time-consuming e.g have to give police specialist training so economically inefficient
-Memon failed to find the CI improved police officers performance on gaining accurate testimony, results showed no benefit in correct answers