FACTORS AFFECTING EWT ACCURACY

Question 1

what is “misleading information”?

Answer 1

• incorrect info given to an eyewitness after the event
• can affect how somebody remembers it or answers about it
  EX. - leading questions
  - post-event discussion

Question 2

what is a leading question?

Answer 2

• question that suggests an answer, because of the way it was phrased

Question 3

describe Loftus and Palmer’s “response-bias study”

Answer 3

• ppts into 5 groups of 9, who all watched a video of a car crash
• asked the question “how fast were the cars going when they hit/smashed/collided/bumped/contacted with each other?”

Question 4

describe Loftus and Palmer’s “substitution study”

Answer 4

• 3 groups of 50 ppts, watched a video of a car accident
• each group was either asked “how fast… smashed into each other” , “how fast… hit each other” , or weren’t asked anything (control)
• a week later, ppts asked “did you see any broken glass?”

Question 5

explain the findings of Loftus and Palmer’s “response-bias” study

Answer 5

• using the verb “smashed” resulted in faster speeds given by ppts, than when “contacted” was used
• suggests that the wording of questions influences how someone decides how to answer a question
• “hit” and “smashed” led to the belief that the cars were driving much faster than they actually were

Question 6

outline Loftus and Palmer’s substitution explanation

Answer 6

• results due to the changing of critical word
• altered how ppts saw the event
• the verb, “smashed” influenced ppts to think they saw broken glass

Question 6

state the 2 reasons for the outcome for post-event discussion

Answer 6

• influences accuracy of the witness’ recall of the event, due to either
• memory contamination
• memory conformity

Question 7

define memory contamination

Answer 7

• EWT may become distorted
• they combine information from other witnesses with their own

Question 8

define memory conformity

Answer 8

• Gabbet et al stated that witness’ go along with each other for social approval
• believe that others are right
• their actual memory is unchanged

Question 9

outline Gabbet et al’s study on memory conformity

Answer 9

• pairs of ppts to watch videos of the same car crash at different angles
• pair then discusses the video
• ppts then had their recall tested

Question 10

outline the findings of Gabbet et al’s study

Answer 10

• 71% of ppts recalled events that they had heard during the discussion stage
• for the control group, corresponding figure was 0%
• confirms memory conformity

Question 11

how did Foster et al criticise Loftus and Palmer’s findings

Answer 11

• stated that EWT’s are affected by the real situation
• Loftus and Palmer’s study was in a non-stressful environment
• weakness, as EWT may be more dependable and misleading info may not have that large of an effect

Question 12

• outline Sutherland & Hayne’s research into central details
• how is this a limitation for misleading info’s affect on EWT

Answer 12

• asked ppts misleading questions after showing them a video clip
• recall was more accurate for central details than peripheral ones
• suggests that central details were resistant to change, not predicted for by substitution explanation

Question 13

outline the investigation into the weapon focus effect as playing a negative role in EWT

Answer 13

• Johnson & Scott had 2 groups of ppts
• sat in reception
• one group saw a man with a pen covered in grease
• second group saw a man running with a knife
• ppts asked to identify the man from 50 photos

Question 14

• state the findings of Johnson & Scott’s weapon focus study
• state their conclusion

Answer 14

• 49% in “no weapon” condition could correctly identify the man
• 33% in “weapon” condition could correctly identify the man
• ppts who saw the knife experienced higher anxiety
• therefore, focused attention on the knife, not the man

Question 15

outline Pickel’s investigation into unusualness vs threat

Answer 15

• 5 groups of ppts shown a video of a hair salon
• shown man with either scissors, handgun, wallet, raw chicken or nothing
• ppts filled out questionnaire about the video

Question 16

state the findings of Pickel’s study and how they limit Johnson & Scott’s “weapon focus theory”

Answer 16

• mean results on the memory test were lowest for the most unusual items, not the most threatening
• suggests that weapon focus effect is due to unusualness, not anxiety
• tells us nothing about anxiety’s effect on EWT

Question 17

outline Valentine & Mesout’s “Labyrinth of Horror”

Answer 17

• ppts wore heart monitors to measure anxiety
• placed in “high anxiety” or “low anxiety” group
• asked to describe a person in the labyrinth of horror

Question 18

state Valentine & Mesout’s findings and how they strengthen Johnson & Scott’s “weapon focus theory”

Answer 18

• 17% of high anxiety identified correctly
• 75% of low anxiety identified correctly
• suggests that high anxiety has negative effects on EWT

Question 19

outline Yuille & Cutshall’s investigation to show anxiety’s positive effect on recall

Answer 19

• witnesses from a shooting interviewed 5 months after incident
• answers compared with original police interviews
• accuracy determined by number of details
• anxiety measured by a 7 point scale

Question 20

state the findings of Yuille & Cutshall’s investigation into anxiety having a positive effect on recall

Answer 20

• ppts accuracy changed very little
• ppts with higher stress had 88% accuracy
• ppts with lower stress had 75% accuracy
• suggests anxiety may enhance EWT accuracy in real life

Question 21

how did Christianson & Hubinette’s interviews support anxiety as having a positive effect on EWT

Answer 21

• interviewed 58 witnesses to a bank robbery
• direct witnesses had higher accuracy than indirect witnesses

Question 22

outline a limitation of Yuille & Cutshall’s research into positive effects of anxiety on EWT

Answer 22

• interviewed several months after incident
• lack of control of confounding variables during this time
• effects of anxiety may have been overwhelmed by other factors
• could not properly be assessed
• invalidating their research

Question 23

state the Yerkes-Dodson Law

Answer 23

• relationship between emotional arousal and performance looks like ∩
• too much or too little anxiety produces poorer recall

Question 24

state a problem with the inverted U-theory

Answer 24

• ignores multiple elements of anxiety: cognitive, behavioural, emotional
• focuses on physical arousal, not the way we think about the situation