memory - EWT & cognitive interview

Question 1

define EWT:

Answer 1

the ability of people to remember the details of events, such as accidents and crimes, which they themselves
have observed

Question 2

what can the accuracy of eye witness testimonies can be affected by?

Answer 2

-misleading information (leading questions and post event discussion)
-anxiety

Question 3

what is misleading information?

Answer 3

incorrect information given to the
EW usually after the event

Question 4

what is a leading question?

Answer 4

a question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer

Question 5

what is post event discussion?

Answer 5

a question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer

Question 6

who conducted the study into leading questions?

Answer 6

loftus & palmer

Question 7

when was the study into leading questions done?
(experiment 1)

Answer 7

1974

Question 8

aim of loftus & palmer study:
(experiment 1)

Answer 8

to investigate the effect of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony

Question 9

sample of loftus and palmer study:
(experiment 1)

Answer 9

45 american students divided into 5 groups of 9

Question 10

method of loftus and palmer study:
(experiment 1)

Answer 10

-independent measures design
-all participants watched a video of a car crash and were then asked a critical question about the speed of the cars “how fast were they cards going when they…each other?”
-loftus & Palmer changed the verb used in the question for each condition

Question 11

results of loftus and palmer study:
(experiment 1)

Answer 11

the estimated speed was affected by the verb used:

smashed = 40.8 mph
hit = 34.0 mph

Question 12

conclusion of loftus and palmer’s first experiment

Answer 12

the accuracy of eyewitness testimonies is affected by leading questions and that a single word in a question can significantly affect the accuracy of our judgements

Question 13

loftus & palmer experiment 2: aim

Answer 13

to investigate further how leading questions can affect eyewitness testimony

Question 14

loftus & palmer experiment 2: method

Answer 14

-one week later the participants returned and were asked a series of questions about the accident
-the critical question was: “did you see any broken glass?”
-there was no broken glass in the video clip

Question 15

loftus & palmer experiment 2: conclusion

Answer 15

-the participants who were questioned previously using the verb smashed were significantly more likely to report seeing the broken glass, as a result of the earlier leading question
-leading questions distort and bias your memory of an event

Question 16

2 reasons why leading question as affect EWT:

Answer 16

-response bias
-substitution explanation

Question 17

leading questions & response bias:

Answer 17

-the way in which a question is asked can bias the response of the witness
-this suggests that whilst the witness memories are still intact, their choice of response to a question or the interpretation of the memory can be biased towards a specific direction

Question 18

leading questions & substitution explanation:

Answer 18

-memories are actually distorted by the leading questions
-the critical verb alters the person’s perception of the accident
-it interferes with the original memory that is stored in the LTM, distorting its accuracy

Question 19

weaknesses of loftus and palmer’s study:

Answer 19

-questionable ecological validity
-lacks population validity

Question 20

weakness / ao3 - questionable ecological validity

Answer 20

P - loftus & Palmer’s research has questionable ecological validity

E - questioning participants about everyday events like a car crash appears to be a genuine measure of eyewitness testimony
↳ the participants watched a video of a car crash and witnessed the events unfold from start to finish
↳ in everyday reports of car accidents, witnesses rarely see the whole event; they are either involved in the event directly, or see a small part of the event happen

L - results do not reflect everyday car accidents and we are
unable to conclude if eyewitnesses to real accidents

Question 21

weakness / ao3 - lacks population validity

Answer 21

P - study lacks population validity

E - their two experiments consisted of 45 and 150 students from the university of washington
↳ it is reasonable to argue that the students in their experiment were less experienced drivers, who may be less accurate at estimating speeds

L - we are unable to generalise the results to other populations, for example, older and more experienced drivers, who may be more accurate in their judgement of speeds and therefore not as susceptible to leading questions.

Question 22

strengths of loftus and palmer study:

Answer 22

-lab study → high controlled

Question 23

strength / ao3 - controlled lab study

Answer 23

P - controlled lab study

E - this high degree of control reduces the chance of extraneous variables, increasing the validity of the research into leading questions

L - It is easy for psychologists to replicate their studies and see if the same results are achieved with different populations

Question 24

who conducted the study into post event discussion?

Answer 24

gabbert et al

Question 25

when was the study into post event discussion conducted?

Answer 25

2003

Question 26

aim of gabbert et al study:

Answer 26

to investigate the effect of post-event discussion on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.l

Question 27

sample of gabbert ewt al study:

Answer 27

-60 students from the university of aberdeen
-69 older adults from a local community

Question 28

method of gabbert et al study:

Answer 28

-participants watched a video of a girl stealing money from a wallet
-the participants were either tested individually (control group) or in pairs (co-witness group)

-the participants in the co-witness group were told that they had watched the same video; however, they had in fact seen different perspectives of the same crime and only one person had actually witnessed the girl stealing

-participants in the co-witness group discussed the crime together
-all of the participants then completed a questionnaire, testing their memory of the event.

Question 29

results of gabbert et al’s study:

Answer 29

-71% of the witnesses in the co-witness group recalled information they had not actually seen
-60% said that the girl was guilty, even though they had not seen her commit a crime but had been picked up in the discussion
-the corresponding figure in the control group where there was no discussion was 0%.

Question 30

2 reasons why post event discussion might affect eyewitness testimony:

Answer 30

-memory contamination
-memory conformity

Question 31

what is memory contamination?

Answer 31

-when co-witnesses to a crime discuss it with each other, their eyewitness testimonies may become altered or distorted
-this is because they combine (mis)information from other witnesses with their own memories

Question 32

what is memory conformity?

Answer 32

-gabbert concluded that witnesses often go along with each other, either to win social approval or because they believe the other witnesses are right and they are wrong.
-unlike with memory contamination, the actual memory is unchanged

Question 33

where does research support for memory contamination come from?

Answer 33

skagerberg and wright

Question 34

method of skagerberg and wright study:

Answer 34

skagerberg and wright (2008) showed their participants film clips

there were two versions:
(eg:) a mugger’s hair was dark brown in one but light brown in the other

participants discussed the clips in pairs, each having seen different versions

Question 35

results of the skagerberg & wright study:

Answer 35

-they often did not report what they had seen in the clips or what they had heard
from the co-witnesses, but a ‘blend’ of the two
-e.g: a common answer to the hair
questions was not ‘light brown’ or ‘dark brown’ but ‘medium brown’

Question 36

conclusion from the skagerberg & wright study:

Answer 36

-the study suggests that the memory itself is distorted by misleading post-event discussion (memory contamination) rather than memory conformity

Question 37

ao3 of how misleading information affects EWT:

Answer 37

research into misleading information has real life applications

Question 38

ao3 / strength - research into misleading information has real life applications

Answer 38

P - research into misleading information has real life applications

E - the research has led to important practical uses for police officers and
investigators
↳ loftus claimed that leading questions can have such a distorting influence on memory that police officers need to be careful about how they phrase questions when interviewing eyewitnesses

L - research into EWT is one area where psychologists can make an important difference to the lives of real people – by improving how the legal system works and acting as an expert witness

Question 39

ao3 of gabbert et al’s study:

Answer 39

-the results of gabbert et al also have questionable ecological validity
-gabbert et al tested two different populations

Question 40

ao3 / strength - gabbert et al. tested two different populations

Answer 40

P - gabbert et al. tested two different populations

E - the sample is comprised of university students and older adults, and found little difference between these two conditions

L - her results have good popval and let us conclude that post‐event discussion affects younger and older adults in a similar way

Question 41

ao3 / criticisms - the results of gabbert et al have questionable ecological validity

Answer 41

P - the results of gabbert et al have questionable ecological validity

E - the participants in the co-witness condition witnessed different perspectives of the same crime, as would typically be
the case in real‐life crimes
↳ however, as in loftus and palmer’s research, these witnesses knew they were taking part in an experiment and were more likely to have paid close attention to the details of the video clip

L - therefore, these results do not reflect everyday examples of crime, where witnesses may be exposed to less information

Question 42

criticisms of EWT:

Answer 42

-participant variables can affect EWT
-lab studies of EWT suffer from demand characteristics
-many EWT research studies lack
external validity

Question 43

ao3 / criticism - participant variables can affect EWT

Answer 43

P - participant variables can affect EWT

E - anastasi and rhodes found that older people were less accurate than younger people when giving eyewitness reports
↳ they also found that all age groups were more accurate when identifying people of their own age group

L - research studies often use younger people as the target to identify, so therefore some age groups may seem less
accurate but this is not really the case

Question 44

what is anxiety?

Answer 44

a state of emotional and physical arousal

Question 45

how does anxiety affect EWT?

Answer 45

-anxiety creates a physiological arousal in the body that prevents us paying attention to important cues – so recall is impaired
-to understand this more, psychologists have studied the effect of weapons (anxiety provoking) on EWT accuracy

Question 46

who conducting the study into anxiety’s affect of recall?

Answer 46

johnson and scott (1976)

Question 47

the aim of johnson & scott’s study:

Answer 47

to investigate whether anxiety affects the accuracy of eyewitness testimony

Question 48

the method of johnson & scott’s study:

Answer 48

-participants were invited to a laboratory where they were told to wait in the reception area

-a receptionist who was seated nearby excused herself to run an errand, leaving the participant alone
-participants were then exposed to one of two conditions
-both groups were then shown 50 pics and ask to identify the person who had left the
laboratory’s, the participants were informed that the suspect may, or may not, be present in the photographs

Question 49

the conditions in johnson & scott’s study:

Answer 49

1) in the ‘no‐weapon’ condition, participants overheard a conversation in the laboratory about equipment failure
↳ after, someone (the target) left the laboratory and walked past the
participant holding a pen, with his hands covered in grease

2) in the ‘weapon’ condition, participants overheard a heated exchange and the sound of breaking glass and crashing chairs. after, someone (the target) runs into the reception area, holding a bloodied letter‐opening knife

Question 50

the results of johnson & scott’s study:

Answer 50

-those who had witnessed the man holding a pen correctly identified the target 49% of the time
-those who had witnessed the man holding a knife, correctly identified the target 33% of the time

Question 51

the conclusion of johnson & scott’s study:

Answer 51

it was said that the participants who were exposed to the knife were more anxious and were more likely to focus their attention on the weapon instead of the face of the target (the weapon focus effect)

Question 52

the tunnel theory of memory

Answer 52

-argues that a witness’s attention is on the weapon because it is a source of danger
and anxiety
-therefore, the anxiety associated with seeing a knife reduces the accuracy of eyewitness testimony

Question 53

criticisms of johnson & scott’s study:

Answer 53

-the research has been criticised for
lacking ecological validity
-they lack control of variables

Question 54

ao3 / criticism - the research has been criticised for lacking ecological validity

Answer 54

P - the research has been criticised for lacking ecological validity

E - although the participants were waiting in the reception area outside the lab, they may have anticipated that something was going to happen, which could have
affected the accuracy of their judgements

L - furthermore, the results from real‐life case studies refute the findings of johnson and scott and suggest that their results do not represent real‐life cases of extreme anxiety and EWT

Question 55

ao3 / criticism - they lack control of variables

Answer 55

P - they lack control of variables

E - real life witnesses are interviewed sometime after the event. many things happen to them in the meantime that researchers cannot control e.g. post event discussions

L - these extraneous variables may be responsible for the (in)accuracy of recall, rather than anxiety
↳ it’s difficult to isolate the variables, this questions the internal validity of research into anxiety and EWT

Question 56

anxiety - the positive effect

Answer 56

-stress will trigger the fight or flight response, which causes increased alertness, this may improve our memory for an event because we become more aware of the cues in the situation

Question 57

anxiety - the positive effect (key study)

Answer 57

yuille and cutshall (1986)

Question 58

the aim of yuille and cutshall’s study:

Answer 58

to investigate the effect of anxiety on eye witness testimonies

Question 59

the method of yuille and cutshall’s study:

Answer 59

-yuille and cutshall investigated the effect of anxiety in a real life shooting, in which
one person was killed and another person seriously wounded
-13 out of 21 original witnesses (aged between 15 and 32) agreed to take part in
yuille and cutshall’s follow-up research interview (4-5 months later) where they
were asked to give their account of what happened

-yuille and cutshall then compared this account with the original, accuracy was determined by the number of details reported in each account

Question 60

the results of yuille and cutshall’s study:

Answer 60

-the witnesses were able to recall the incident in a great deal of detail
-there was a very high level of agreement
between the accounts given by the different witnesses
-the witnesses accounts did not alter in
response to leading questions

Question 61

the conclusion of yuille and cutshall’s study:

Answer 61

-anxiety does NOT appear to have a
negative affect on accuracy of EWT
-stress may have had a positive effect on memory

-yuille and cutshall emphasised above results were evident despite the stress being VERY high for the witnesses (shop owner shot, the robber was also shot) – but even this did not affect the EWT accuracy

Question 62

what theory was created to explain anxiety’s positive effect of recall?

Answer 62

Deffenbacher’s Yerkes-Dodson Law / Inverted U Theory
(1983)

Question 63

what does the yerkes-dodson law state?

Answer 63

memory becomes more accurate as
anxiety increases, however, once the
optimal level of arousal is reached
(maximum accuracy), any more
anxiety will decrease the accuracy of
recall

Question 64

strengths of the inverted u theory:

Answer 64

-there is evidence to suggest that anxiety can have a positive effect on recall (bank robberies)
-there is further research supporting that high anxiety can have a negative effect on recall (horror labyrinth)

Question 65

ao3 / strength - there is evidence to suggest that anxiety can have a positive effect on recall (bank robberies)

Answer 65

P - there is evidence to suggest that anxiety can have a positive effect on recall

E - christianson and hubinette (1993) interviewed 58 witnesses to actual bank
robberies in sweden. some of the witnesses were directly involved (eg: bank workers), some were indirectly involved (eg: bystanders)
↳ the researchers assumed that those directly involved would experience the most anxiety
↳ it was found that recall was more than 75% accurate across all witnesses. The direct victims (most anxious) were even more accurate

L - this shows that in a real life crime, anxiety does not seem to reduce the accuracy of EWT

Question 66

ao3 / strength - there is further research supporting that high anxiety can have a negative effect on recall (horror labyrinth)

(+ however)

Answer 66

P - there is further research supporting that anxiety can have a negative effect on recall

E - valentine and mesout (2009) carried out a study in the horror labyrinth in the london dungeon
↳ visitors completed questionnaires to assess their level of self-reported anxiety
↳ they wore wireless heart monitors to confirm that they were experiencing anxiety
↳ participants were placed into two groups: high anxiety and low anxiety

-the task was to describe a person encountered in the labyrinth (played by an actor)
↳ the researchers found that the high-anxiety participants recalled the fewest correct details of the actor and made more mistakes

L - this research suggests that high anxiety does seem to have a negative effect on EWT

however: christianson and hubinette
interviewed their participants several months after the event (4-15 months)

Question 67

criticism of the inverted u theory

Answer 67

the inverted u explanation is limited because it is too simplistic

Question 68

ao3 / criticism - the inverted u explanation is limited because it is too simplistic

Answer 68

P - the inverted u explanation is limited because it is too simplistic

E - anxiety is difficult to measure because it has many elements – cognitive, behavioural, emotional and physical
↳ the inverted-U explanation assumes that only one of these (physiological/physical arousal) is linked to poor
performance

L - this explanation therefore fails to account for the other factors, for example, the emotional experience of witnessing crime (fear) on the accuracy of memory

Question 69

what is the cognitive interview?

Answer 69

a police technique for interviewing witnesses to a crime, it uses multiple retrieval strategies, based on cognitive psychology, to improve eye-witness testimony reliability

Question 70

when and why was the cognitive interview developed?

Answer 70

the cognitive interview was developed in 1985, in response to criticisms of the traditional police interview

Question 71

how was the cognitive interview created?
(steps)

Answer 71

-fisher et al. (1987) studied police interviews in florida & found that witnesses were often given short, closed questions, which tried to elicit facts
-the police would often ask questions in a
sequence that was not synchronised with the events that had taken place
-geiselman et al. (1985) developed the cognitive interview, identifying four key principles that they believed would enhance recall

Question 72

geiselman et al’s 4 principles:

Answer 72

report everything (R)
context reinstatement (C)
recall in reverse order (O)
recall from changed perspective (P)

Question 73

report everything: elaborated

Answer 73

the interviewer encourages the reporting of every single detail in the event, even though it may seem unimportant

Question 74

context reinstatement: elaborated

Answer 74

-trying to mentally recreate an image of the situation
-details of the environment and the individual’s emotional state including their feelings at the time of the incident
-this is based on context-dependent
forgetting

Question 75

recall in reversed order: elaborated

Answer 75

-the witness is asked to describe the scene from the end to the beginning
-this stops people using their expectations of how the events must have happened rather than the actual events It also
prevents dishonesty because it is harder to produce an untruthful account if it has to be
reversed.

Question 76

recall from a changed perspective: elaborated

Answer 76

-trying to mentally recreate the situation from different points of view e.g. describing what another witness present at the scene would have seen
-this prevents the influence of expectations and schemas on recall

Question 77

other features of the cognitive interview:

Answer 77

-the witness is encouraged to relax and speak slowly
-the interviewers are told to adapt the questions to suit the needs of the individual witnesses
-the interviewer is also encouraged to build rapport with the witness

Question 78

who conducted the key study into the cognitive interview & when?

Answer 78

geiselman (1985)

Question 79

aim of the cognitive interview study:

Answer 79

to examine the effectiveness of the cognitive interview

Question 80

the method of the cognitive interview study:

Answer 80

-a sample of 89 students watched a video of a simulated crime
-two days later, the students were interviewed using the standard police interview or the cognitive interview

Question 81

the results of the cognitive interview study:

Answer 81

-th students who were interviewed using the cognitive interview recalled
significantly more correct information than those interviewed using the standard
interview
-the number of incorrect items recalled by both groups was similar

Question 82

the conclusion of the cognitive interview study:

Answer 82

-the cognitive interview is effective in improving the quantity of information recalled
-it does not lead to an increase in incorrect information

Question 83

what is the enhanced cognitive interview?

Answer 83

the CI with additional elements added by fisher et al

Question 84

strengths of the cognitive interview:

Answer 84

the effectiveness of CI has been supported by research

Question 85

ao3 / strength - the effectiveness of CI has been supported by research

Answer 85

P - the effectiveness of CI has been supported by research

E - kohnken et al (1999) conducted a meta-analysis of 55 studies comparing the CI with the standard police interview
↳ they found that the CI gave a 41% increase in accurate information
compared to the standard interview

L - this suggests that the CI is more effective than the standard interviewing
technique and is a useful tool to improve the accuracy of EWT

Question 86

criticisms of the cognitive interview:

Answer 86

-kohnken also found an increase in the amount of inaccurate information recalled by ppts
-not all elements of the CI are equally useful
-police officers may be reluctant to use the full CI as it takes more time and training than the standard police interview

Question 87

ao3 / criticism - kohnken also found an increase in the amount of inaccurate information recalled by ppts

Answer 87

P - kohnken also found an increase in the amount of inaccurate information recalled by ppts

E - this was particularly an issue for the enhanced cognitive interview.
↳ cognitive interviews may give more quantity of information but not necessarily more quality or accurate information

L - we need to be cautious using the information from cognitive interviews
cognitive interviews

Question 88

ao3 / criticism - not all elements of the Cl are equally useful

Answer 88

P - not all elements of the Cl are equally useful

E - milne and bull (2002) interviewed students using CI techniques, which was compared against a control condition
(no CI techniques)
↳ it was found that when participants were interviewed using a combination of the ‘report everything’ and ‘mental
reinstatement’ of the CI, their recall was significantly higher than them control condition

L - this casts doubt on the credibility and usefulness of the full CI

Question 89

ao3 / criticism - police officers may be reluctant to use the full Cl as it takes more time and training than the standard police interview

Answer 89

P - police officers may be reluctant to use the full Cl as it takes more time and training than the standard police interview

E - kebbell and wagstaff(1996) identified a problem with evaluating the overall
effectiveness of the CI
↳ they found that police officers identified that CI techniques require more time to
establish rapport and to help the witness relax
↳ the CI also requires specialist training
& many police forces do not have the resources (time or money) to offer this full
training on feel is necessary

Question 90

criticism of johnson & scott’s study:

Answer 90

P - johnson and scott’s study may test surprise, not anxiety

E - ppts may focus on a weapon because they are surprised at what they see rather than because they are scared
↳ pickel (1998) arranged for ppts to watch a thief enter a hairdressing salon
carrying scissors (high threat, low surprise), handgun (high threat, high surprise),
wallet (low threat, low surprise)
raw chicken (low threat, high surprise)
↳ EWT accuracy (identification) was least accurate for high surprise (chicken and handgun) rather than high threat

L - the weapon focus effect may be due to surprise rather than anxiety/threat and therefore tells us nothing about the effects of anxiety on EWT