Eyewitness Testimony II

Question 1

reliability

Answer 1

the experiment gives consistent results

Question 2

validity

Answer 2

measuring what we intend to measure

Question 3

ecological validity

Answer 3

can be transferred to the real world

Question 4

schemas

Answer 4

the way we code information

Question 5

expectations of a witness

Answer 5

• influence testimony

- see what you expect to see

Question 6

propensity evidence

Answer 6

just because someone offended once does not mean they are guilty of offending the same way again

Question 7

post-event information

Answer 7

describes the effect of suggestive and misleading information that is presented after an effect has occurred

Question 8

the effect of misleading information on children

Answer 8

children can give reliable evidence when not subjected to misleading information

Question 9

ceci, ross, & toglia (1987

Answer 9

• 187 children asked to decide the likelibility of a story for kids younger than them
• 2 days later the children were asked to engage in a recognition task
• results showed that recall was impared when misleading post-event information was given

Question 10

co-witness discussion

Answer 10

witnesses discussing what they have seen prior to police attendance/interviews

Question 11

paterson & kemp (2006)

Answer 11

• 86% of witnesses indicated they discussed the crimes they observed but only to ensure they would provide accurate information
• the discussion has the potential to improve eyewitness testimony but there is a risk the witnesses will misremember the source of the information or that post-event information is inaccurate

Question 12

skagerberg & wright (2008)

Answer 12

• found 58% of witnesses discussed the crime - most commonly discussed the details of the crime itself and the perpetrator details
• importance of separating witnesses before interviewing

Question 13

perspective bias

Answer 13

the perspective you observe an event from impacts on your perception of it

Question 14

post-event information - language use

Answer 14

language use can alter eyewitness memory and introduce confabulation

Question 15

loftus & palmer (1974)

Answer 15

estimates of the speed of a car crash varied depending on the wording of the question (e.g. crashed/bumped/smashed)

Question 16

factors that influence susceptibility a person will be to post-event information errors

Answer 16

cognitive factors, social factors

Question 17

cognitive factors

Answer 17

• how good the memory of the event is

- expectations of the event

Question 18

social factors

Answer 18

• credibility of the source

- power and social attractiveness of the source

Question 19

memory co-existence hypothesis

Answer 19

people have two memories in the memory system - 1 is the actual memory and 2 is the post-event information. because the post-event information is storied last it is likely to be retrieved first

Question 20

memory over-riding hypothesis

Answer 20

post-event information completely overrides the original memory, thereby creating a completely new memory

Question 21

source misattribution theory

Answer 21

• failure to attribute retrieved information to the correct source
• can result in confusion differentiating between details of different events
• big issue with children witnesses