Lesson 10 Flashcards
What is eye Whitness testimony?
The evidence supplied to a court by people who have seen on their crime, based on their memory of the incident. This evidence can include identification of the perpetrator or just details of the crime, such as events and time of day etc. juries are often influenced heavily by EWT
What are leading questions?
Questions that are phrased in such a way that they encourage a certain answer. The response bias explanation argues that leading questions do not affect memory, it is merely the answer the person chooses to give. But the substitution bias says that leading questions distort memory because they contain misleading information.
What is the procedure for leading questions?
Loftus and palmer showed 45 American students a film of a car crash and were asked to estimate the speed before it crashed. However in each condition, different verbs we’re used. These were: contacted, hit, bumped, collided or smashed
What is the findings for leading questions?
In the contacted condition the estimated speed was 31 mph but in smashed, it was 41mph. A week later they were asked if they saw any broken glass. There was none in the film. However despite this, 32% of participants said there was broken glass in the smashed condition and only 12 in the control condition, highlighting that leading questions have significant impact on what people recall and can change a persons memory of an entire event
Evaluation of leading questions?
+ lab experiment so it is highly controlled. Reduces chance of extraneous variables, increasing the validity of the results. It is therefore easy for psychologists to replicate their research study to see if the same results are found, making the study reliable
- this study has questionable ecological validity. The participants were asked to watch a video of a car crash. People who witness a real car accident may have a stronger emotional connection to the incident and may be less susceptible to leading questions
- this study lacks population validity. It consisted of 45 American students. Students are less experienced drivers and may be less competent at estimating speeds, therefore unable to generalise findings to other populations such as older and more experienced fed drivers. They may have a better judgement of speed and therefore less susceptible to leading questions
What is post event discussion
The memory of an event can be contaminated through discussing events with others due to misinformation (memory contamination). Also a desire for social approval can lead co witnesses to reach a consensus view of what happened (memory conformity)
What is the procedure for post event discussion
Gabbert et al put participants in pairs and asked to watch a different video of the same event on their own, so they each got their own unique details. In one condition they were asked to discuss the event with one another before actually recalling the event. In the other condition they were prohibited from discussing the event with their pair.
What is the findings for post event discussion?
71% of participants who discussed the event with their pair recalled something that they couldn’t have possibly seen, but what they had learnt from their partner
Evaluation poste event discussion
+This study had population validity. It featured two populations, students and older adults. There was no significant difference in findings between the groups. We can conclude that post event discussion affects younger and older adults in a similar way
- this study lacks ecological validity. The participants knew they were taking part in a study and were more likely to have paid close attention to the video (demand characteristics). Therefore results don’t reflect real life where whiteness may be exposed to less information and will be paying less attention
