factors affecting eyewitness testimony (misleading questions)

Question 1

Outline Loftus and Palmers study

Answer 1

• arranged for ppts to watch film clips of car accidents giving them questions about it afterwards
• critical question (leading question) ppts were asked “How fast were the cars going when they hit each other”
• leading question as the word ‘hit’ implies the speed
• there were 5 groups of ppts each given a different verb in the critical question

Question 2

What were the findings of Loftus and Palmers research

Answer 2

• verb contacted; 31.8 mph

- verb smashed; 40.5 mph

Question 3

outline the response-bias explanation

Answer 3

the wording of the question has no real effect on the memories of the eyewitness but just effects how they answer the question

Question 4

outline the substitution explanation

Answer 4

when the wording of leading question actually changes the ppts memory of the film clip

Question 5

Outline what Loftus and Palmer found when they conducted a second experiment that supported the substitute explanation

Answer 5

• ppts who originally heard ‘smashed’ later were more likely to report seeing broken glass than those who heard ‘hit’

Question 6

define ‘post-event discussion’

Answer 6

when eyewitnesses of an event discuss what they saw with others at the scene

Question 7

outline Gabbert et al.’s study on post event discussion

Answer 7

• each ppt watched a video of the same crime but in different points of view
• both ppts then discussed what they had seen with the other before individually completing a test of recall

Question 8

what were Gabbert et al.’s findings

Answer 8

• 71% of ppts mistakingly recalled aspects of the event that had not been seen in the video but had been picked up on in the post event discussion
• it was 0% in the corresponding control group
• Gabbert et al concluded witness go along with each other to win social approval or because they believe the other witnesses are right and they are wrong
• they called this phenomena ‘memory conformity’

Question 9

what is a huge strength of all research on misleading information

Answer 9

• it has very important practical uses in the real World where the consequences of inaccurate eyewitness testimonies can be very serious
• Loftus believes police officers need be very careful about how they phrase their questions

Question 10

what is a limitation of Loftus and Palmers study

Answer 10

• the artificial tasks

- watching a video of an accident/crime is very different from actually seeing/witnessing it in real life