Memory

Question 1

state what the response-bias explanation suggests could be the reseaon for why leading questions affect eye witnesses testimony

Answer 1

that the wording of the question has no real effect on the participants’ memories, but just influences how they decide to answer.

Question 2

Give an example of a situation that could support the response-bias explanation

hint: what would a leading word like ‘smashed’ change a participant’s answer when describing speed estimates

Answer 2

When a participant gets a leading question using the word smashed, this encourages them to choose a higher speed estimate

Question 3

What does the substitution explanation propose?

Answer 3

the wording of a leading question changes the participant’s memory .

Question 4

what evidence could be used to support the substitution explanation bias?

hint: think Loftus and Palmer

Answer 4

in their (L&P’s) second experiment, participants who initially heard ‘smashed’ were later more likely to report seeing broken glass (there was none) than those who heard ‘hit’. the critical verb altered their memory of the incident.

Question 5

Outline the procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s study

Answer 5

-45 participants (students) watched film clips of car accidents and then were asked questions abt the accident.
-5 groups of participants were given a different verb in the critical question “how fast were the cars going when they each other?”
-the verb used was either hit, contacted, bumped, collided or smashed.

Question 6

what did loftus and palmer find in their study?

Answer 6

the verb ‘contacted’ resulted in a mean estimated speed of 31.8 mph. for the verb ‘smashed’, the mean was 40.5mph

Question 7

what can be concluded from loftus and palmer’s study? (1 thing)

Answer 7

that leading questions do have an impact an eyewitness’s recall of an event

Question 8

outline gabbert et al’s study on how post event discussion can affect eyewitness testimony

Answer 8

-participants were studied in pairs.
-each participant watched a video of the same crime , but it was filmed from different points of view.
-meaning tht each participant could see elements in the event tht the other couldnt.
-both participants then discussed wht theyd seen before individually completing a test of recall

Question 9

what did gabbert et al find in their study?

Answer 9

researchers had found evidence of memory conformity as 71% of participants mistakenly recalled aspects of the even that they didn’t see in the video but had picked up in the discussion. the corresponding figure in a control group, where their was no discussion, was 0%.

Question 10

what does the memory contamination explanation suggest could be the reason for why post event discussion affects eye witness testimony?

Answer 10

when a co-witnesses to a crime discuss it w/ each other, their eyewitness testimonies may become altered or distorted. Bc they combine (mis)information from others with their own memories.

Question 11

-define wht’s meant by the memory conformity explanation?

-who also came to conclusion that this was an explanation for post event discussion?

Answer 11

-witnesses often go along w/ each other, either to win social approval or bc they believe the other witnesses are right and they are wrong. However, the original memory never changes.
-Gabbert et al

Question 12

Whats a strength of research into misleading info?
(think real world application)
PEE

Answer 12

P- findings can be used by criminal justice system
E-consequences of EWT are detrimental. Loftus found tht leading questions can distort memory.
E-this can help police officers to be more careful about how they phrase questions during interviews w/ eye witnesses.

Question 13

how does anxiety have a negative effect on recall?

Answer 13

it creates physiological arousal in body which prevents us paying attention to important cues, so recall is worse

Question 14

Outline Johnson and Scott’s procedure used to research the effect of the presence of a weapon on memory

-also mention what happened in the low and high anxiety condition

Answer 14

-participants believed they were taking part in a lab study.
-IN THE LOW ANXIETY CONDITION: seated in a waiting room ,participants heard a casual convo in the next room and then saw a man walk past them carrying a pen and grease on his hands.
-IN HIGH ANXIETY CONDITION: participants overheard a heated argument, heard breaking of glass, and then saw a man walk out of the room holding a knife covered in blood

Question 15

a) -what was found by johnson and scott? (2 things)

b)-what was concluded?

Answer 15

a)-participants later picked out the man from a set of 50 photos, 49% who’d seen man carrying pen were able to identify him.
-33% of participants who’d seen a man carrying blood-covered knife were able to correctly identify man

b) the tunnel theory of memory: argues tht ppl have enhanced memory for central events. weapon focus as a result of anxiety can have this effect

Question 16

how does anxiety have a positive effect on recall?

Answer 16

-witnessing a stressful event creates anxiety through physiological arousal within the body.
-the fight or flight response is triggered, increasing alertness.
-this may improve memory for the event as we become more aware of cues in the situation.

Question 17

outline the procedure yuille and cutshall used to investigate the posive effect of anxiety on recall

Answer 17

-study was on an actual shooting in a gun shop in canada wher the shop owner shot a theif dead. there were 21 witnesses- 13 took part in the study.
-they were interviewed 4 to 5 months after the incident and these interviews were compared with the original police interviews at the time of the shooting.
-accuracy was determined by the number of details reported in each account and witnesses were also asked to rate how stressed they had felt at the time of the incident (on a 7 point scale) and whether they had any emotional problems since the event (eg sleeplessness)

Question 18

what did yullie and cutshall find when investigating the positive effects of anxiety on memory?

Answer 18

• the witnesses were very accurate in their accounts and there was little change in the amount recalled or accuracy after 5mnths- though some details were less accurate, such as recollection of the colour of items and age/height/weight estimates.
  -those participants who reported the highest levels of stress were most accurate (abt 88% compared to 75% for the less stress group)

Question 19

what did yullie and cutshall conclude when investigating the positive effects of anxiety on memory?

Answer 19

that anxiety doesnt have a detrimental effect on the accuracy of eyewitness memory in a rea world context and may even enhance it

Question 20

what shape does the relationship between emotional arousal and performance look like on a graph?

Answer 20

an inverted U

Question 21

say what the yerkes-dodson law/ the inverted U theory states

Answer 21

it states that performance will increase with stress, but only up to a certain point, where it decreases drastically

Question 22

what did deffenbacher do to explain the contradictory findings on the effects of anxiety

Answer 22

he reviewed 21 studies on EWT and used the yerkes-dodson law to explain the findings

Question 23

how did deffenbacher use yerkes-dodson law to explain the contradictory findings on the effects of anxiety?

Answer 23

-when a crime/accident is witnessed, emotional (anxiety) and physiological changes (fight or flight response) are experienced.
-lower levels of anxiety/arousal produce lower levels of recall accuracy
-then, memory becomes more accurate as the level of anxiety/arousal increases.
-however, theres an optimal level of anxiety, which is the point of max accuracy. if a person experiences any more arousal, then their recall suffers a drastic decline.

Question 24

whats a limitation of johnson and scott’s study regarding poor internal validity? (unusualness rather than anxiety)

(PEE)

Answer 24

P- it may not have tested for anxiety. participants may have focused on weapon bc it was surprising or unusual not bc it made them scared.
E- Pickel conducted an experiment using scissors , a handgun, a wallet or a raw chicken as the hand held items in a hair salon video (where scissors=high anxiety, low unusualness). it was found tht eyewitness accuracy was significantly poorer in the high unusualness conditions (chicken and handgun)
E- suggets tht the weapon focus effect is due to unusualness rather than anxiety/threat. therefore, tells us nothing specifically abt the effects of anxiety on EWT

Question 25

whats a strength of the view that anxiety has a negative effect on the accuracy of recall?

(PEE)

Answer 25

P- theres evidence to support the view
E- Valentine & Mesout’s study supports the research on weapon focus, finding negative effects on recall . researchers used an objective measure (heart rate) to divide participants into high and low anxiety groups. in this study anxiety clearly disrupted the participants’ ability to recall details abt the actor in london dungeon’s labyrinth.
E- this suggests tht a high level of anxiety does have a negative effect on the immediate eyewitness recall of a stressful event

Question 26

whats a strength of the view that anxiety has a positive effect on the accuracy of recall?

(PEE)

Answer 26

P- theres evidence to support this view
E- christianson & hübinette interviewed 58 witnesses to actual bank robberies in sweden. some of the witnesses were directly and others were indirectly involved. researchers found tht recall was more than 75% accurate across all witnesses. the direct victims (most anxious) were even more accurate.
E- these findings confirm tht anxiety doesnt reduce the accuracy of recall for eyewitnesses and may actually enhance it.

Question 27

what are the 4 techniques that make up the Cognitive Interview?

Answer 27

-report everything
-reinstate the context
-reverse the order
-change perspective

Question 28

who introduced the cognitive review? (there are two ppl)

Answer 28

-fisher
-& geiselman

Question 29

define what fisher+geiselman meant by ‘report everything’ (as a cognitive interview technique)

Answer 29

witnesses r encouraged to include every single detail of event, even if it seems trivial. seemingly small details may be important and may trigger other important memories

Question 30

define what fisher+geiselman meant by ‘reinstate the context’ (as a cognitive interview technique)

Answer 30

witness should return to the original scene by imagining the environment and their emotions at the time .

Question 31

define what fisher+geiselman meant by ‘reverse the order’
(as a cognitive interview technique)

Answer 31

events should be recalled in a different order from the original sequence e.g from final point to beginning.
-this prevents ppl reporting their expectations if how the event must have happened rather than the actual events.
-it prevents dishonesty as its harder to produce an untruthful acc if they have to reverse it

Question 32

define what fisher+geiselman meant by ‘change perspective’ (as a cognitive interview technique)

Answer 32

witness should recall the incident from the other ppl’s perspectives. eg how if would’ve appeared to the perpetrator. this is done to disrupt the effect of expectations.

Question 33

what does fisher et al’s enhanced cognitive interview focus on as an addition to cognitive interview ?

Answer 33

the social dynamics of the interaction (between an eyewitness and the interviewer)

Question 34

wht are five aspects of the social dynamics of an interview/interaction tht the ehanced cognitive interview focus on?

Answer 34

-interviewer needs to know when to establish and relinquish eye contact
-reducing eyewitness anxiety
-minimising distractions
-getting the witness to speak slower
-ask open ended questions

Question 35

whats a strength of the cognitive interview (CI)?
hint: think abt its effectivness

(PEE)

Answer 35

P- there’s evidence tht supports its effectiveness/ tht it works
E- Eg a meta analysis by Kohnen et al combined data from 55 studies comparing the CI w/ the standard police interview. CI gave an avg 41% increase in accurate info compared w/ the standard interview. only 4 studies in the analysis showed no difference between the types of interview.
E- shows tht CI is an effective technique in helping witnesses to recall info .

Question 36

whats a limitation of the cognitive interview (CI)?

hint: think abt the fact tht some parts are more helpful than others
(PEE)

Answer 36

P- not all of its elements are equally effective or useful
E- Milne and Bull found tht each of the 4 techniques used ALONE produce more info than the standard police interview. but also found tht using ‘report everything’ and ‘reinstate the context’ produced better recall than any other techniques or combo of them.
E- this confirmed police officers’ suspicions tht some aspects of CI are more useful than others. this casts some doubt on the credibility of the overall CI.

Question 37

whats a limitation of the cognitive interview (CI)?

hint: ‘time-consuming’, ‘requires a lot of training’

(PEE)

Answer 37

P- its time consuming and requires a lot of training so officers may be less willing to use CI instead of standard police interview
E- e.g more time is needed 2 establish rapport w/ witness and allow them to relax. CI also requires special training and many forces don’t have the resources to provide more than a few hours.
E- suggests tht the complete CI as it exists isnt a realistic method 4 police officers 2.