factors affecting accuracy of ewt part 1 Flashcards
what is ewt
the ability of people to remember the details of events such as an accident or crimes they themselves observed
what is misleading info
any information that leads you into giving a particular response as opposed to a necessarily accurate response.
what are leading questions
questions that suggest a desired answer
what is post event discussion
information gained after an event - usually from other eyewitness with potential to infleunce memory of it
research: leading questions loftus and palmer aim
they aimed to show that leading questions could distort eyewitness terstimony accounts and so have a confabulating effect, as the account would become distorted by cues provided in the question. to test this loftus and palmer asked people to estimate the speed of motor vehicles using different forms of questions
loftus and palmer procedure
45 american studenrs formed opportunity sample. laboratory experiment ig design to prevent dc. 5 conditions only one experience by each pt. 7 films of traffic accidents ranging in duration from 5 to 30 seconds.
after they watched it they were asked specific questions such as the question ‘‘about how fast were the cars smashed/collided/bumped/hit/contacted each other. thus the iv was the wording of the question (include all verbs used), the dv was speed reported by pts in mph
findings loftus and palmer
estimated speed was affected by verb used. the verb implied ifno about speed, which systematically affected pts memory of accident. pts who were asked smashed though cars were going fast than those who were asked the hit question. pts in smashed condition reported highest speed estimate - 40.8 mph, lowest was contacted at 31.8
what is response bias
wording on the question has no real effect on pts memories but just influences how they decide to answer. eg smashed makes u think its faster
loftus and palmer conclusion
the results show that the verb conveyed an impression of the speed the car was travelling and this altered the particpants perceptions. in other words, ewt may be biased by the way questions are asked after a crime is commited
strength application
p: loftus and palmer’s research has real world application
e: draws attention to power of leading questoons which has important implications for the cjs
limitation validity
p: particpants viewed video clips rather than being present at a real life accident
e: the video clip does not have the same emotional impact as witnessing a real life accident the participants would be less likely to pay attention and less motivated to be accurate in their judgements
t: this decreases the validity of the results
limitation generalisability
p: the sample is not representative
e: they are students they are less experienced drivers and therefore less confident in their ability to estimate speeds. this may have influenced them to be more awayed by the verb in question
t: lacks generalisability
