Key Question Flashcards
What is the cognitive key question?
How reliable is EWT?
What is EWT?
Is evidence supplied by people who witness a specific event or crime, relying only on their memory.
How could reconstructive memory effect EWT?
According to Bartlett, when a memory is recalled it is reconstructed and so is not the same as the original memory that was store. E.g. simplification, rationalisation etc
How does the MSM suggest about the importance of rehearsal?
The more times that you rehearse the information the more accurate it will be and stored into the LTM
Traumatic events would prevent elaborate rehearsal- lack of cues
What does Episodic and Semantic memory suggest about EWT?
Episodic memory is the personalised memory and the one used in EWT and so is not truly factual
What can also lead to memory distortion in EWT?
- Leading question- Loftus and Palmer
- Post event information- Delvin report
How can the key question help improve reliability?
Cognitive interview- Aims to reduce schema distortion because recalling events in an unusal order may make the witness recall information that doesn’t fit their schema as they do not have time to fill the gaps
- Training polic officers not to use leading questions and keep them away from others to prevent post event information
