Eyewitness testimony misleading information Flashcards
What are the stages eyewitness memory goes through
- The witness encodes into LTM. Encoding may only be partial or distorted due to most crimes happening quickly
- The witness retains the information. Memories may be lost or modified during this time
- The witness retrieves the memory from storage. Nature of questioning or absence of necessary cues could effect this
Who did research on leading questions
and what was the research and what is it known as
Loftus and palmer (Response bias)
45 participants watched clips of a car accident. In the critical questions (leading question) they were asked ‘How fast were the cars going’. However the participants were split into groups and in each group the verb in the question was changed e.g. collided, smashed, bumped hit
it was shown the mean estimated speed when hearing the verb contacted was 31.8 compared to smashed at 40.5 mph showing how the leading question can change peoples answers
What was the 2nd experiment on leading questions
what is it known as
Substitution explanation
A week after being shown the original video and being asked the leading question. The participants were asked a series of 10 questions on the accident they saw. Including another leading question ‘Did you see any broken glass’
There was no broken glass in the film however the people who’s original leading question had the verb smashed answered yes more showing leading questions also can effect LTM
How does post event discussion effect eyewitness testimony
Memory of an event may be altered or contaminated through discussing events or being questioned multiple times
How does discussing events effect eyewitness testimony
what is the effect called
Conformity effect - Co-witnesses may reach a consensus view on what actually happened. This was investigated and pairs watched different videos of the same event so there were 2 unique perspectives. Pairs in one condition were told to discuss the events before each partner recalled what they has seen. However the other condition was not.
It was shown 71% of witnesses who had discussed the event went on to mistakenly recall items that weren’t on the video but discussed
What is substitution explanation and what is the study
The broken glass study
a leading question changes a person’s memory of an event by adding detail that was not present at the time of them witnessing the event
What is response bias and what is the study
Loftus first leading question study
people’s tendency to respond to tests or assessment items based on some factor other than the content
What can you use to evaluate misleading information on eyewitness testimony
+ The bunny effect
+ Evidence against substitution
- practical uses
How to evaluate the misleading information on eyewitness testimony
+ bunny effect
Support substitution explanation as Loftus did a separate study. Participants were asked to evaluate a misleading advertisement of Disney that included Bugs Bunny (not a Disney character). It was showing the participants who evaluated the misleading advertisement were more likely to say they saw/met Bugs bunny when they went to Disney.
This shows how misleading information is easy to gain supporting symptom substitution
How to evaluate the misleading information on eyewitness testimony
- Evidence against substitution
Eye witness testimony is only a hursts for some events. Sunderland and Hayne showed participants a video. When asked a misleading question after recall was more accurate for central details rather than peripheral ones. Presumably participants attention was focused on central features of the event and memory’s were relatively resistant to being mislead
Suggests the original central memories were not distorted which was not an outcome predicted by substitution
How to evaluate the misleading information on eyewitness testimony
+ practice issues
It is a strength as it has had important uses in the criminal justice system. Loftus misleading information theory on memory has changed how police officers ask there questions when interviewing eye witnesses. Psychologists are also sometimes asked to be expert witnesses in court to explain the limits of EWT.
Shows Loftus study has been applied into the legal system and may have avoided innocent people being found guilty
