Factors Influencing EWT Flashcards
What is EWT?
The recalled memory of a witness to a crime or incident
What are the factors affecting EWT
Post event information
Weapons focus
Racial differences
What is post event info
In the interim period a witness may not always give accurate info as other info can confabulation the info that has already been encoded
What does the reconstructive theory of memory suggest
That we use schemas to guide our memories- post event info can be included into a memory which becomes reconstructed
What did loftus and palmers experiment show about post event info
Misinfo in leading questions can influence someone’s EWT- students judged speed of car- ‘smashing’ was faster than ‘contacted’
What is weapon focus
Refers to an EW concentration on a weapon to the exclusion of other details about a crime
Give two reasons why weapon focus can lower EWT accuracy
Heightened stress arousal detriments other details about event
Focus their attention on weapon- other details are not encoded
What did loftus et al find about weapon focus
Pps in the gun condition were less able to identify the customer than those in the condition where a cheque was presented
What did bringham and malpass find in racial differences
Errors in identification are more likely to occur when the suspect and witness are racially different- much better at recognising members of our own racial group
