Factors affecting EWT:Misleading information Flashcards
what are the three factors that could affect reliability of EWT
- misleading information
- anxiety
- cognitive interview
what is meant by leading questions
a question which be sure of the way it is phrased suggests a certain answer
what is eye witness testimony
the ability of people to remember details of events which they observed
what is meant by misleading information
incorrect information given to the eyewitness usually after the event
what are examples of misleading information
- leading questions
- post event discussions between co witnessed and/or other people
who studied effect of language on EWT
Loftus and Palmer
what was Loftus and Palmers aim
to investigate the effect of language on memory and reliability of EWT
what was the procedure of Loftus and Palmers study
- 45 students were shown 7 films of different traffic accidents
- after each film they were given questions asking them to describe the accident
- there was a critical question
what was the critical question in loftus and palmers study
‘how fast were the cars going when they X each other’
what were the results of loftus and palmers study
smashed=40.8mph
collided=39.3mph
hit=34mph
contacted=31.8mph
what was the conclusion of loftus and palmers study
leading questions biased the eyewitness recall of an event
what happened in loftus and palmers study when they were asked ‘was there any broken glass’
those who were given a stronger verb were more likely to say yes
evaluate loftus and palmers study(strength)
real life application
-police interviews
evaluate loftus and palmers study(weakness)
- artificial test-ecological validity
- response bias-individual differences
evaluate loftus and palmers study in light of generalisability
- students can’t drive therefore less confident in ability to estimate speeds
- may be more influenced by verb or
evaluate loftus and palmers study in light of ethics
students experienced a higher level of anxiety because of the video
evaluate loftus and palmers study in light of validity
lacks ecological validity and low mundane realism- not same emotional effects
evaluate loftus and palmers study in light of reliability
can be replaced and standardised as it was in a lab
what is response bias
suggests that the wording has no real effect on the ppts memories but just influences how they decide to answer
what is substitution explanation
- the wording of the leading question changed the ppts memory
- e.g ppts hearing the word smashed were more likely to report broken glass than those who heard hit
what is a post event discussion
witnesses may discuss what they have seen which may influence the accuracy of each witnesses recall
who studied post event discussion
Gabbert et al
what is the aim of gabbert et als study
study the affects of post event discussion on recall/memories of an event
what were the findings of Gabberts study
-71% of ppts who discussed an event before recall mistakenly recalled information
what is conformity effect
where witnesses go along with eachother to gain approval or because they believe other people are right so they must be wrong
what was the procedure of Gabberts study
- ppts were put into pairs and both watched the video of the same crime but filmed from different perspective
- they discussed what they had seen before individually taking a test of recall
