Leading Q's + Post-Event discussion

Question 1

Eyewitness testimony

Answer 1

the evidence supplied to a court by people who have seen a crime, based on their memory of the incident

Question 2

leading questions

Answer 2

• questions that are phrased in such a way as to encourage the witness to give a certain answer

Question 3

two explanations for leading questions

Answer 3

• response-bias explanation
• substitution-bias explanation

Question 4

response-bias explanation - leading questions

Answer 4

argues that leading q’s don’t affect memory, merely the answer a person chooses to give

Question 5

substitution-bias explanation - leading questions

Answer 5

argues that leading q’s distort memories because they contain MISLEADING INFO

Question 6

procedure - study on leading questions

Answer 6

• Loftus and Palmer showed 45 american students a film of a car crash
• asked them to estimate the speed that cars were travelling when they crashed

Question 7

findings - study on leading questions

Answer 7

parts in the ‘contacted’ condition:
- estimated speed = 31mph
parts in the smashed’ condition:
- estimated speed = 41mph

• week later parts were asked if they saw any broken glass (there wasn’t any)
  ‘contacted’ condition = 12%
  ‘smashed’ condition’ = 32%

= shows that leading q’s have a significant impact on what people recall + can change an entire memory of an event

Question 8

ad of leading questions

Answer 8

• study is a lab experiment = highly controlled
• reduces chances of extraneous variables
  = increasing validity of the study
• this makes it easier for psychs to replicate their research to see if it is reliable (similar/ same results are found)

Question 9

disads of leading questions

Answer 9

• ecological validity
• population validity

Question 10

ecological validity - disads of leading q’s

Answer 10

• doesn’t have much ecological validity
• parts watched a VIDEO of a car crash
• people who witness a real car accident will have a stronger emotional connection to the event
  = may not be as susceptible to leading q’s

Question 11

population validity - disads of leading q’s

Answer 11

• study lacks population validity
• study consisted of 45 American students
• students are less experienced drivers
  = maybe less competent at estimating speeds
  = unable to generalise results of the study to other populations
• older + more experienced drivers may be more accurate in their judgement of speeds
  = less susceptible to leading questions

Question 12

Post-Event Discussion

Answer 12

• the memory of an event can become contaminated through discussing events w/ others either due to:
  = misinformation (memory contamination)
  = desire for social approval can lead co-witnesses to reach a consensus view of what happened (memory conformity)

Question 13

procedure - study on post-event discussion

Answer 13

• psych put parts in pairs
• got them to watch a different video of the same event = each got unique details
• in one condition, pairs were encouraged to discuss the event before individually recalling
• other condition, they didn’t discuss what they’d seen with each other

Question 14

findings - study on post-event discussion

Answer 14

• 71% of witnesses who’d discussed the event went onto mistakenly recall the details that they couldn’t have seen themselves
• but learned during discussion w/ partner

Question 15

ad of post-event discussion

Answer 15

• study has population validity
• two different populations, students + older adults were compared
  = no significant difference between the two groups
  = allows us to conclude that PED affects younger + older adults in a similar way

Question 16

disad of post-event discussion

Answer 16

• study lacks ecological validity
• parts knew they were taking part in an experiment
  = far more likely to have paid close attention to the details of the video clip
  = results don’t reflect real life where witnesses may be exposed to less info