Factors affecting eyewitness testimony Flashcards
What are the two types of misleading information?
- Leading questions
- Post-event discussion
What are leading questions?
Suggests to the witness what answer is desired or leads them to a desired answer.
Who conducted research about leading questions?
Loftus and Palmer
What was Loftus and Palmer’s aim?
To investigate the effect of leading questions in distorting the accuracy of EWT.
What was Loftus and Palmer’s procedure?
-45 american students were shown films of different car accidents.
-Each given a questionnaire to describe the event.
What was the critical question in Loftus and Palmer’s study?
‘About how fast were the cars going when they …. each other?’
What were the 5 verbs used in Loftus and Palmer’s study?
-Smashed
-Collided
-Bumped
-Hit
-Contacted
What were the findings of Loftus and Palmer’s study?
Smashed= 40.8mph
Contacted= 31.8mph
What was concluded from Loftus and Palmer’s research?
Language can have a distorting effect on EWT, which can lead to inaccurate accounts of the witnessed events.
What is post event discussion?
Any information discussed after the event has happened which could influence the person’s memory of the event.
Who conducted research on post-event discussion?
Gabbert et al
What was Gabbert’s aim?
To investigate the effects of post-event discussion in distorting the accuracy of EWT.
What was the procedure of Gabbert’s study?
-Experimental group= watched video of simulated robbery in pairs from different pov’s, and discussed when they had seen after.
-Control group= watched some simulated robbery but did not take part in post-event discussion.
What were the findings of Gabbert’s study?
-71% of pps in experimental group mistakenly recalled aspects that weren’t in the video.
-0% of the control group made errors.
What did Gabbert conclude from his research?
Witnesses often go along with each other, either to win social approval or because they believe the other witnesses are right and they are wrong.
Give strengths of research on misleading information.
+Research support for the effect of misleading information from Loftus and Palmer.
+Many studies have been conducted and have found similar results.
They have control of the extraneous variables and therefore can establish cause and effect.
+Research into post-event discussion has practical applications.
Practical uses for the police and investigations.
Give limitations of research on misleading information.
-Loftus and Palmer’s study can be criticised for having low ecological validity.
It was done in a lab so is very different from a real life situation. Participants may also have demand characteristics so the results wouldn’t be reliable.
What is the Yerkes Dodson Law?
High anxiety= Bad recall
Medium anxiety= Best recall
Low anxiety= Poor recall
What is the weapons focus effect?
The view that a weapon in a criminal’s hand distracts attention (because of the anxiety it creates
Name a person who did research into anxiety affecting recall.
Johnson and Scott
Describe Johnson and Scott’s study.
-2 conditions, a high anxiety and a low anxiety condition.
-High anxiety condition= smashing and shouting then a man walking past with a bloody paper knife.
-Low anxiety condition= smashing and shouting then a man walking past with a greasy pen.
What were Johnson and Scott’s findings?
16% lower rates of accurate recall when compared to the low anxiety condition.
What did Johnson and Scott conclude?
‘Weapons focus effect’, attention is drawn to the weapon as a source of anxiety. As a result of the ‘fight or flight’ response.
Evaluate research into the effects of anxiety on EWT.
+Researchers have regularly found similar results.
The experiments are controlled, making them easy to replicate. The same outcome being that anxiety negatively affects EWT.
-Criticised for being artificial.
The video is not the same as the real event. you can’t create real levels of anxiety experienced.
-Not ethically replicable.
Can’t put other participants in harm.
