Memory - Booklet 2 Flashcards
define eye witness testimony
-the ability of people to remember details of the events, such as accidents and crimes which they themselves have observed
-accuracy of ewt can be affected by factors such as misleading information, leading questions and anxiety
define anxiety
-a state of emotional and physical arousal
-the emotions include having worried thoughts and feelings of tension
-physical changes include an increased heart rate and sweatiness
describe the procedure of the Johnson and Scott study
-participants invited to take part in a fake psychology study
-while in waiting room
-group 1 overheard a heated argument in the next room, a crash of equipment and a man holding a paperknife
-group 2 overheard a disagreement about lab equipment in the next room, and a man holding a pen
-each participants asked to identify the man from 50 photos
aim of Johnson and Scott study
investigate the effect of a weapon which would cause anxiety on the accuracy of eye witness testimony
findings of Johnson and Scott study
-group 1 less accurate in selecting the man from the photos in comparison to the control group
-anxiety decreased effectiveness of eye witness testimony due to weapon focus
describe the yuille and cutshall study
-13/21 witnesses of a shooting where one person was killed were interviewed 4-5 months after
-gave eye witness accounts
results of yuille and cutshall study
-highly accurate accounts
-little change in accuracy of recall
-resisted leading questions
what does the inverted U theory state
-performance will increase with stress but only to a certain point
-optimal anxiety= maximum accuracy
explain deception in Johnson and Scotts study
-believed they were in waiting room when experiment was already taking place
-needed to deceive to avoid demand characteristics for valid results
-participants would have been debriefed
-some may not have agreed to take part if they were aware of the weapon and anxiety
describe the procedure of loftus and palmers experiment
-5 groups of 9 participants watched a video of a car crash
-asked a specific question about the speed of the cards
-manipulated the verb in the question
what did loftus and palmers sample consist of
45 american students
which verbs did loftus and palmer use
smashed
collided
bumped
hit
contacted
results of loftus and palmer experiment
verb smashed = 40.5 mph
verb contacted = 31.8mph
-accuracy of eye witness testimony affected by leading questions
define misleading information
-incorrect information given to the eyewitness usually after the event
-it can take many forms such as leading questions and post event discussion
define leading question
-a question which because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer
evaluate the ethics in loftus and palmers study
-deception as unaware different verbs
-so no informed consent
evaluate the methodology in loftus and palmers study
-lab experiment with an artificial task
-lacks mundane realism and ecological validity
evaluate the application in loftus and palmers study
-suggests courts and police interviews should avoid leading questions to increase accuracy
evaluate the sample in loftus and palmers study
-limited sample
-lacks population validity as results cannot be generalised
define post event discussion
-occurs when there is more than one witness to an event
-witnesses may discuss what they have seen with co witnesses or with other people
-this may influence the accuracy of each witnesses recall
procedure of Fiona gabberts study
-studied participants in pairs
-each participant watched a video of the same crime but filmed from different point of view so they saw different elements
-both participants discussed what they had seen
-individually completed recall test
findings of Fiona gabberts study
-71% of participants mistakenly recalled aspects they picked up in discussion
-0% in control group with no discussion mistakenly recalled aspects
conclusion of Fiona gabberts study
witnesses go along with each other either to
-win social approval
-or they believe the other witnesses are right and they are wrong (memory conformity)
explain the source monitoring theory
-memories of the event are genuinely distorted
-the eye witness can recall information about the event but can’t recall where it came from (source confusion)
explain the conformity theory
-recall changes to go along with the accounts of co witnesses
-to win social approval
-or because they genuinely believe other witnesses are right and they are wrong
evaluate the ethics in Fiona gabberts study
-deception as unaware they watched different videos
-no informed consent
evaluate the methodology in Fiona gabberts study
-lab experiment with an artificial task
-lacks mundane realism and ecological validity
evaluate the application in Fiona gabberts study
-police would use the conclusion of this experiment
-the court would want to be aware of post event discussion
evaluate the sample in Fiona gabberts study
-120 people
-60 students from Aberdeen university
-60 older participants from local community
-so cultural bias
what are the 4 factors of cognitive interview
-recall/report everything
-context reinstatement
-reverse order
-change perspective
describe the recall/ report everything technique
-a person should recall every minor detail from the event no matter how insignificant it may seem
-they shouldn’t select what information to report
describe the context reinstatement technique
-interviewer encourages the witness to mentally recreate an image of the situation including details of the environment
-eg the weather, time (using their senses)
describe the reverse order technique
-the witness is asked to recall the event in a different chronological order
-eg end to beginning
describe the change perspective technique
-the witness is asked to mentally recreate the situation from different points of view
-eg the point of view of someone else who was present
describe geiselmans study on cognitive interview
-89 students asked to watch a video of a crime
-two days later half interviewed with standard, half with cognitive interview
results on cognitive interview study
mean number of items correctly recalled
-standard interview =35.58
-cognitive interview=41.67
mean number of items incorrectly recalled
-standard interview=8.61
-cognitive interview=8.57
evaluate the research support for cognitive interview
-cognitive interview compared to standard interview showed more items were correctly recalled
-so it is more effective
-but number of incorrect recall was similar
evaluate cognitive interview being time consuming and expensive
-takes significantly longer as focuses on 4 points
-police officers have to spend more of their hours doing it
-costs a lot to train police officers in it
-so takes away from other police roles
evaluate cognitive interview having implications on the economy
-helps retrieve more accurate memories than standard interview
-so miscarriages of justice such as Ronald cotton are prevented
-stronger prosecution cases save police and legal system’s time and resources
