Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony Flashcards
Why are memories occasionally inaccurate or false?
Memories reconstructed in recall and be affected by other factors that cause sequence of events to be confused or for us to insert certain memories that may not have occurred
Explain how schemas can lead to inaccurate memory?
Our preconceived expectations lead to our memory being altered
Explain how leading questions may lead to our memory being altered?
These suggest that a certain answer is correct
eg how sad were you when Sanjida left madrasa?
Explain how post-event discussion might affect memory?
hearing other people’s opinions after the event will lead to reinterpretation of the memory
eg; ‘q3 was so hard!!!’ you now assume it was hard even if you didnt originally find it difficult
How does anxiety affect accuracy of memory?
Deffenbacher deduced an inverted U shape graph showing that very low emotional arousal leads to poor memory and high emotional arousal leads to very good memory
SO if someone has moderate pressure applied they have improved memory recall, but extremely high levels of anxiety can lead to certain features of the scene being ignored
How did Loftus and Palmer find proof for the factors affecting accuracy of memory?
- When more intense verbs were used to ask a leading question about a car crash film, the speed of the cars were percieved to be higher
- In a replication experiment it was found that more intense verbs increases the % of ppts who reported broken glass following a leading question about it
Verbs ranged from hit —> smashed
What are the limitations of Loftus and Palmer?
- Suffers from demand characteristics
- Lacked ecological validity
IRL ppts may put more effort into ensuring they give the correct answers as well as the shock factor
How did Johnson and Scott’s Weapon study serve as evidence for memory accuracy?
The ppts were in a room expecting to be in a study when they heard loud fighting noises.
There were 2 test conditions;
- Man comes out with pen and grease on hands - 49% accurate
- Man comes out with knife - 33% accurate
They were then asked to recognise the attacker’s face
HOWEVER may be affected by demand characteristics and ecological validity
Where would the 2 test conditions of the Weapons study lie on the Deffenbacher curve?
Pen and grease = very accurate memory, medium arousal
Knife = low accurate memory
Explain how Yuille and Cutshall’s Gun study disproves the Deffenbacher curve?
There was a live shooting, researchers found that accuracy was high and memory was maintained 5 months later
