factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony

Question 1

what is the role of an eyewitness

Answer 1

to give evidence in court that can result in convictions

Question 2

what did Bartlett argue

Answer 2

memories are not accurate ‘snapshots’ of events carefully preserved in our minds.

Question 3

how are our memories reconstructive

Answer 3

they are influenced by our personal attitudes and the stereotypes we hold so our recall is not objective

Question 4

when does it become a problem for EWT

Answer 4

if recall is not objective

Question 5

what is a schema

Answer 5

packages of information about people and objects around us. we use schemas as mental shortcuts. when we recall a memory it is influenced by schemas, memories change to fit with the individuals pre-existing bias

Question 6

what do schemas do

Answer 6

they reflect our attitudes and memories and we use schemas to construct our memories

Question 7

why are schemas a problem for EWT

Answer 7

if memory is reconstructive, then its not accurate. in its reconstruction, it is changed and will produce errors.

Question 8

what are reconstructive memories

Answer 8

memory is not an accurate recording of events. it is reconstructed in recalling and may produce errors (confabulations)

Question 9

what do reconstructive memories explain

Answer 9

how misleading information influences memory

Question 10

what can misleading information appear in the form of

Answer 10

leading questions

Question 11

what are leading questions

Answer 11

the words used to ask questions can imply a certain response and this influences the memory that someone reports

Question 12

what are two explanations for why memory is altered

Answer 12

substitution bias
response bias

Question 13

what is substitution bias

Answer 13

actual memory does change replacing the old memory completely

Question 14

what is response bias

Answer 14

actual memory doesnt change but there is an emotional pressure that alters your response

Question 15

how did Loftus and Palmer (1974) investigate the effects of leading questions

Answer 15

they showed traffic accident clips to participants. after watching the clip, they were asked the leading questions

Question 16

what was the question L&P asked

Answer 16

“how fast were the cars going when they __________ into each other”

Question 17

what did they keep changing in the leading question

Answer 17

the verb asked

Question 18

what were the different verbs used

Answer 18

smashed
collided
bumped
hit
contacted

Question 19

what were the results of the L&P experiment

Answer 19

the more extreme the verb, the faster the estimation of the travellers speed
contacted suggested the slowest speed (31.8mph on average)
smashed suggested the fastest speed
(40.8mph on average)

Question 20

what were the conclusions of the L&P experiment

Answer 20

misleading information in the form of leading questions can influence the recall of EWT

Question 21

what did L&P do one week later

Answer 21

in a 2nd study, participants were invited back and completed a follow up questionnaire.

Question 22

what did L&P ask in the 2nd study

Answer 22

“did you see any broken glass?”

Question 23

what were the results of L&P’s 2nd study

Answer 23

more than twice as many participants said they had seen broken glass in the ‘smashed’ condition

Question 24

why were the results of L&P’s 2nd study the way they were

Answer 24

it had been a week since the first part of the study and so its likely the participants may not remember that the word ‘smashed’ or ‘hit’ was originally used - this is subsitution bias

Question 25

what is post event discussion

Answer 25

contamination of EWT with another witness’s memory reducing accuracy

Question 26

what usually occurs during PED

Answer 26

witnesses usually discuss what they have seen and we find that their testimony alters to match the accounts of other witnesses

Question 27

what is memory conformity

Answer 27

witnesses go along with other accounts for social approval

Question 28

how did Gabbert et al (2003) investigate PED

Answer 28

they showed videos of the same crime to pairs of participants. each member of the pair was shown a different video showing the crime from a separate perspective.

Question 29

what were the results of G. et al (2003) experiment

Answer 29

if they were allowed to discuss what they had seen with the other witness, when interviewed later alone 71% of participants would include items they hadn’t seen in the video but heard in the discussion.
compared to 0% in pairs who were not allowed to discuss what they had seen

Question 30

what was G.et al experiment a demonstration of

Answer 30

memory conformity

Question 31

how did Bodner et al (2009) investigate PED

Answer 31

the experimental setup was similar to Gabbert, particpants were explicitly discouraged from sharing information in their testimony. it was found that these participants shared significantly less information gained from the other witness. this suggests that if warned about the dangers of PED its effects can be reduced

Question 32

what is another factor affecting EWT

Answer 32

anxiety

Question 33

what is the definition of anxiety

Answer 33

mental state of arousal that includes feelings of exteme concern and tension. this is often accompanied by physiological changes such as increased heartrate

Question 34

why does anxiety affect EWT

Answer 34

in many situations that use EWT witnesses are recalling anxious situations like violent crimes.

Question 35

why do some of the lab based research lack validity

Answer 35

none of the situations participants are exposed to are anxious situations.

Question 36

why do some psychologists suggest anxiety decreases recall

Answer 36

people are so anxious that they become distracted not paying attention so they can’t accurately recall later

Question 37

what is the weapon focus effect

Answer 37

the eyewitness is so focused on the gun or knife that they don’t look at the face of the criminal

Question 38

why do some psychologists suggest anxiety increases recall

Answer 38

the anxiety makes the witness more alert to the situation around them as well as the stronger emotion making a stronger memory and improve memory encoding

Question 39

what is the Yerks-Dodson Law of Arousal

Answer 39

EWT accuracy increases as anxiety raises as the witness becomes alert. However, at a point, anxiety becomes too high and more stress/distraction results in lower accuracy

Question 40

explain the Yerks-Dodson Law of Arousal

Answer 40

when anxiety = low, recall = low as the witness isnt paying attention. as anxiety increases, witness becomes more aware and focused so recall improves. at a certain point, the witness is too anxious and stressed so in that panic loses concentration resulting in less accurate EWT

Question 41

how did Johnson and Scott (1976) investigate the effect of anxiety on EWT

Answer 41

unaware/naive participants sat outside a lab waiting to take part in a study (they didnt know the study had started).

Question 42

what conversation did the participants hear (J&S)

Answer 42

participants either heard a conversation about equipment failure and a man walking out with greasy hands and a pen or a hostile conversation, breaking glass and furniture being knocked over

Question 43

what were the participants told to do (J&S)

Answer 43

when asked to identify the man from 50 photographs 49% of participants could identify the man with the pen. only 33% could identify the man with a knife.

Question 44

what were the results of the experiment (J&S)

Answer 44

results showed anxiety caused by knife resulted in weapon focus and less accurate EWT

Question 45

how did Peters (1988) investigate the effects of anxiety on EWT

Answer 45

patients at a real healthcare centre were given a real injection by a nurse with a researcher present in the room. patients were able to better recognise the researcher than the nurse. the anxiety was caused by having an injection and there is weapon focus on the syringe

Question 46

what did Yuille and Cutshall present (1986)

Answer 46

counter evidence against the effects of anxiety on EWT

Question 47

what was the Yuille and Cutshall experiment

Answer 47

13 witnesses to a real life deadly shooting were interviewed 4 months after the events. researchers found recall to be highly accurate, participants managed to resist leading questions and high levels of stress didn’t seem to impact the accuracy. some of the most accurate recall was from the people who would have been most stressed during the shooting

Question 48

give additional evaluations on factors affecting the accuracy of EWT (strengths)

Answer 48

• research on limitations of EWT has led to real life applications. led to the development. designed to reduce influence schemas on accuracy of recall

Question 49

give additional evaluations on factors affecting the accuracy of EWT (weaknesses)

Answer 49

• research in a lab have low validity because of lack of consequences. incorrect EWT in a courtroom when under oath can lead to wrongful convictions.
• lab studies suffer from demand characteristics with participants memories not actually changing but perhaps picking up on the language used and guessing a response that they think the researcher wants to hear (this is a problem especially when looking at leading questions)
• researchers have an ethical duty to protect their participants from harm and to gain informed consent. Research on anxiety breaks both the guidelines and could be considered unethical. even interviewing people about traumatic experiences could lead to additional anxiety