factor affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: misleading information

Question 1

define eyewitness testimony

Answer 1

the ability of people to remember the details of the events

Question 2

define misleading information

Answer 2

incorrect information given to an eyewitness usually after the event

Question 3

leading question

Answer 3

a question which suggests a certain answer

Question 4

define post - event discussion

Answer 4

when there is more than one witness to an event

Question 5

who conducted the research on leading questions ?

Answer 5

Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer

Question 6

what was the procedure of the research on leading questions ?

Answer 6

Loftus and Palmer arranged 45 ppts to watch clips of car accidents and then asked them questions
- they were asked to describe how fast the cars were travelling ?
- in 5 groups and each group were given a different verb (hit, contacted, bumped etc )

Question 7

what was Loftus and Palmer’s findings ?

Answer 7

mean estimated speed - contacted = 31.8mph
mean estimated speed - smashed = 40.5mph

• leading question biased the EYM recall on the event

Question 8

why do leading questions affect EWT ?

Answer 8

response - bias explanation suggest that the wording of the question has no real effect of ppt memories but influences how they decide to answer - ppt gets a leading question using the word smashed it encourages them to choose higher speed estimate

Question 9

how did Loftus and Palmer support the substitution explanation ?

Answer 9

• second experiment
• the wording of a leading question changes the ppt memory of the film clip
• their critical verb altered their memory of the incident

Question 10

who conducted the research on post - event discussion ?

Answer 10

Fiona Gabbert et al.

Question 11

what was the procedure of Fiona Gabbert study ?

Answer 11

studied ppt in pairs
- each ppt watched a video of the same crime but filed from different points of view
- both ppt then discussed what they had seen before individually completely a test of recall

Question 12

what was Gabbert findings ?

Answer 12

• 71% of the ppts mistakenly recalled aspects of the event they did not see
• control group was 0%

Question 13

why does post - event discussion affect EWT ? - two explanations

Answer 13

memory contamination and memory conformity

Question 14

memory contamination

Answer 14

when co - witneses to a crime discuss it with each other, their eyewitness testimonies may become altered or distorted - they combine misinformation from other witness with their own memories

Question 15

memory conformity

Answer 15

Gabberet et al. - witnesses often go along with each other so social approval - the actual memory is unchanged

Question 16

evaluation - how can misleading information be applied to the real world ? - strength

Answer 16

P - practical uses in the criminal justice system
E - Loftus believes that police officers need to be careful abt how they phrase their Q’s
E - improve the way the legal system works
L - usefulness

Question 17

evaluation - how can misleading information be applied to artificial tasks ? - limitation

Answer 17

P - no artificial tasks
E - Loftus and Palmer - only film clips = lack of stress
E - so there will be no real consequences
L - cannot be generalized to real life