Memory:Accuracy of eyewitness testimony - Misleading information

Question 1

What is EWT?

Answer 1

the evidence provided in court by a person who witnessed crime, with view to identifying the perpetrator of the crime

Question 2

What is a leading question?

Answer 2

questions that suggest a desired answer is or leads them to a desired answer due to either it’s form or content.

Question 3

What is misleading info?

Answer 3

supplying information that may lead to a witness’ memory of a crime to be altered

Question 4

What is post-event discussion?

Answer 4

A conversation between a co-witness/interviewer and an eyewitness after a crime has taken place which may contaminate a witness’ memory for the event

Question 5

Who investigated leading questions?

Answer 5

Loftus and Palmer

Question 6

What was the aim of Loftus + Palmer’s 1st experiment?

Answer 6

To investigate the effects of leading questions on eye-witness testimony

Question 7

What was the procedure of Loftus + Palmer’s 1st experiment?

Answer 7

45 students were shown 7 films of different traffic accidents. After each film each ppt was given a questionnaire which asked them to describe the accident + a series of specific questions about it. There was one critical question ‘About how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?’ which was given to one group. The 4 other groups were given the verbs ‘smashed, collided, bumped or collided instead of hit. This was a leading question as it suggested the answer that a ppt might give.

Question 8

What were the findings of Loftus + Palmer’s 1st experiment?

Answer 8

Positive correlation between intensity of a verb and mean speed estimate —> ‘smashed’ was 9hm/h faster than ‘contacted’

Question 9

What was the aim of Loftus + Palmer’s 2nd experiment?

Answer 9

To investigate the effects of leading questions on eye-witness testimony

Question 10

What was the procedure of Loftus + Palmer’s 2nd experiment?

Answer 10

A new set of ppts were divided into 3 groups + shown a film of a car accident lasting 1 min. The ppts were asked question about the speed. The ppts returned 1-week later ad were asked a series if 10 questions about the incident incl another critical question ‘Did you see any broken glass?’ There wasn’t any broken glass in the film but those who thought the cars were travelling faster were more likely to think there was broken glass.

Question 11

What were the findings of Loftus + Palmer’s 2nd experiment?

Answer 11

Ppts in the ‘smashed’ condition were more likely to recall broken glass in the film than the ‘hit’ condition.

Question 12

Who investigated post-event discussion (conformity effect)

Answer 12

Gabbert

Question 13

What was the procedure of Gabbert’s study?

Answer 13

Ppts were put into groups where each partner watched a different video of the same event so they both saw unique items. Pairs in one condition were asked to discuss the event before each partner was asked to recall the event they’d just seen.

Question 14

What were the findings of Gabbert’s study?

Answer 14

71% of ppts who’d discussed the event with their partner mistakenly recalled items discussed by the other partner which didn’t appear in their video.

Question 15

How does the conformity effect impact EWT?

Answer 15

An individual may be influenced by another person/ group and change what they believe is true —> could be done by any form of conformity.

Question 16

How does repeat interviewing effect EWT?

Answer 16

If an eyewitness is interviewed multiple times, there’s a chance that each time comments from the interviewer will become incorporated into their recollection of events.

Each interview increases the chance that comments from the interviewer become incorporated into their recollection of events. Leading questions also have an impact here. Children are also more susceptible to this.

Question 17

What are the 4 AO3 points for misleading info

Answer 17

-Loftus and Plamer’s research lacks mundane realism
-Demand characteristics
+Real world application
+/- Experimental design

Question 18

(-AO3) How does Loftus and Palmer’s research lack mundane realism?

Answer 18

Ppts were aware that the situations were fake so may have not taken the experiments seriously. Ppts were also not as ‘emotionally aroused’ as in a real accident. The study found that EWT recall was very accurate when ppts believed they were witnessing a real crime (like armed robbery).

Question 19

(-AO3) What is the issue with demand characteristics?

Answer 19

Ppts may have guessed the aim of the study and therefore, were more likely to give ‘beneficial’ answers when unsure which also leads do social desirability bias as the ppt is trying to please the researcher. Results may become biased (negatively impacts internal validity) thus, making it difficult to replicate (low reliability).

Question 20

(+AO3) What is the RWA for misleading info

Answer 20

Application in criminal justice system which is heavily reliant on EWT to investigate a crime. However, evidence of this is entirely reliable. DNA discoveries have proven innocence of wrongly sentenced citizens due to EWT. This highlights the importance of improving EWT in society.

Question 21

(+/-AO3) Why is the experimental design both a strength and a weakness?

Answer 21

This study used independent groups so there’s no issue with order effects and therefore, ppts are less likely to guess the aim of the stud. However, there is an issue ppt variables and individual differences for example, differences in findings may be due to differences in IQ. However, multiple conditions following the same trend might reduce the chance of this.