eyewitness testimony:misleading information

Question 1

explain what is meant by the term eyewitness testimony

Answer 1

eyewitness testimony refers to the information recalled about a crime by a witness

Question 2

in relation to accuracy of eyewitness testimony explain whats meant by misleading information

Answer 2

misleading information is incorrect information given to an eyewitness following an event. This can be during post-event discussion or take the form of leading questions.

Question 3

outline 2 factors that may affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony

Answer 3

post event discussion-witnesses to an event discuss what they have experienced.this could affect the accuracy of their recall

a leading question -one that suggests a certain answer because of the way it is phrased

Question 4

describe one study into the effects of misleading information on eyewitness testimony

Answer 4

loftus and palmer (1974) , where participants watched a film clip of a car crash and then gave speed estimates of cars based on the leading question of “about how fast the cars were going when they x into each other”

with each group being exposed to a different critical verb.Those exposed to the verb ‘smashed’ gave a speed estimate of 8.7mph greater than those who’d heard contacted

Therefore, this shows that leading questions, because of the way they are phrased, suggest that there is a
correct answer.

Question 5

outline research into post event discussion as a factor affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony

Answer 5

post event discussions describe the discussions that take place between co-witnesses after the crime has taken place.

gabbert shows participants a film clip of the same crime scene but with different details for each member.After engaging in ped with the other member of each pair and individually completing a test recall

Question 6

evaluation

Answer 6

The research lacks mundane realism , as the video clip does not have the same emotional impact as witnessing real-life accident and so the research lacks mundane realism

Question 7

evaluation

Answer 7

A strength of the study is it’s easy to replicate (i.e. copy). This is because the method was a laboratory experiment which followed a standardised procedure.

Question 8

evaluation

Answer 8

A further problem with the study was the use of students as participants. Students are not representative of the general population in a number of ways. Importantly they may be less experienced drivers and therefore less confident in their ability to estimate speeds. This may have influenced them to be more swayed by the verb in the question