memory - EWT & cognitive interview Flashcards
define EWT:
the ability of people to remember the details of events, such as accidents and crimes, which they themselves
have observed
what can the accuracy of eye witness testimonies can be affected by?
-misleading information (leading questions and post event discussion)
-anxiety
what is misleading information?
incorrect information given to the
EW usually after the event
what is a leading question?
a question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer
what is post event discussion?
a question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer
who conducted the study into leading questions?
loftus & palmer
when was the study into leading questions done?
(experiment 1)
1974
aim of loftus & palmer study:
(experiment 1)
to investigate the effect of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony
sample of loftus and palmer study:
(experiment 1)
45 american students divided into 5 groups of 9
method of loftus and palmer study:
(experiment 1)
-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
results of loftus and palmer study:
(experiment 1)
the estimated speed was affected by the verb used:
smashed = 40.8 mph
hit = 34.0 mph
conclusion of loftus and palmer’s first experiment
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
loftus & palmer experiment 2: aim
to investigate further how leading questions can affect eyewitness testimony
loftus & palmer experiment 2: method
-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
loftus & palmer experiment 2: conclusion
-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
2 reasons why leading question as affect EWT:
-response bias
-substitution explanation
leading questions & response bias:
-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
leading questions & substitution explanation:
-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
weaknesses of loftus and palmer’s study:
-questionable ecological validity
-lacks population validity
weakness / ao3 - questionable ecological validity
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
weakness / ao3 - lacks population validity
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.
strengths of loftus and palmer study:
-lab study → high controlled
strength / ao3 - controlled lab study
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
who conducted the study into post event discussion?
gabbert et al
when was the study into post event discussion conducted?
2003
aim of gabbert et al study:
to investigate the effect of post-event discussion on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.l
sample of gabbert ewt al study:
-60 students from the university of aberdeen
-69 older adults from a local community
method of gabbert et al study:
-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.
results of gabbert et al’s study:
-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%.
2 reasons why post event discussion might affect eyewitness testimony:
-memory contamination
-memory conformity
what is memory contamination?
-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
what is memory conformity?
-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
where does research support for memory contamination come from?
skagerberg and wright
method of skagerberg and wright study:
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
results of the skagerberg & wright study:
-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’
conclusion from the skagerberg & wright study:
-the study suggests that the memory itself is distorted by misleading post-event discussion (memory contamination) rather than memory conformity
ao3 of how misleading information affects EWT:
research into misleading information has real life applications
ao3 / strength - research into misleading information has real life applications
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
ao3 of gabbert et al’s study:
-the results of gabbert et al also have questionable ecological validity
-gabbert et al tested two different populations
ao3 / strength - gabbert et al. tested two different populations
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
ao3 / criticisms - the results of gabbert et al have questionable ecological validity
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
criticisms of EWT:
-participant variables can affect EWT
-lab studies of EWT suffer from demand characteristics
-many EWT research studies lack
external validity
ao3 / criticism - participant variables can affect EWT
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
what is anxiety?
a state of emotional and physical arousal
how does anxiety affect EWT?
-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
who conducting the study into anxiety’s affect of recall?
johnson and scott (1976)
the aim of johnson & scott’s study:
to investigate whether anxiety affects the accuracy of eyewitness testimony
the method of johnson & scott’s study:
-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
the conditions in johnson & scott’s study:
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
the results of johnson & scott’s study:
-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
the conclusion of johnson & scott’s study:
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)
the tunnel theory of memory
-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
criticisms of johnson & scott’s study:
-the research has been criticised for
lacking ecological validity
-they lack control of variables
ao3 / criticism - the research has been criticised for lacking ecological validity
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
ao3 / criticism - they lack control of variables
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
anxiety - the positive effect
-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
anxiety - the positive effect (key study)
yuille and cutshall (1986)
the aim of yuille and cutshall’s study:
to investigate the effect of anxiety on eye witness testimonies
the method of yuille and cutshall’s study:
-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
the results of yuille and cutshall’s study:
-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
the conclusion of yuille and cutshall’s study:
-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
what theory was created to explain anxiety’s positive effect of recall?
Deffenbacher’s Yerkes-Dodson Law / Inverted U Theory
(1983)
what does the yerkes-dodson law state?
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
strengths of the inverted u theory:
-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)
ao3 / strength - there is evidence to suggest that anxiety can have a positive effect on recall (bank robberies)
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
ao3 / strength - there is further research supporting that high anxiety can have a negative effect on recall (horror labyrinth)
(+ however)
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)
criticism of the inverted u theory
the inverted u explanation is limited because it is too simplistic
ao3 / criticism - the inverted u explanation is limited because it is too simplistic
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
what is the cognitive interview?
a police technique for interviewing witnesses to a crime, it uses multiple retrieval strategies, based on cognitive psychology, to improve eye-witness testimony reliability
when and why was the cognitive interview developed?
the cognitive interview was developed in 1985, in response to criticisms of the traditional police interview
how was the cognitive interview created?
(steps)
-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
geiselman et al’s 4 principles:
report everything (R)
context reinstatement (C)
recall in reverse order (O)
recall from changed perspective (P)
report everything: elaborated
the interviewer encourages the reporting of every single detail in the event, even though it may seem unimportant
context reinstatement: elaborated
-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
recall in reversed order: elaborated
-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.
recall from a changed perspective: elaborated
-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
other features of the cognitive interview:
-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
who conducted the key study into the cognitive interview & when?
geiselman (1985)
aim of the cognitive interview study:
to examine the effectiveness of the cognitive interview
the method of the cognitive interview study:
-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
the results of the cognitive interview study:
-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
the conclusion of the cognitive interview study:
-the cognitive interview is effective in improving the quantity of information recalled
-it does not lead to an increase in incorrect information
what is the enhanced cognitive interview?
the CI with additional elements added by fisher et al
strengths of the cognitive interview:
the effectiveness of CI has been supported by research
ao3 / strength - the effectiveness of CI has been supported by research
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
criticisms of the cognitive interview:
-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
ao3 / criticism - kohnken also found an increase in the amount of inaccurate information recalled by ppts
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
ao3 / criticism - not all elements of the Cl are equally useful
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
ao3 / criticism - police officers may be reluctant to use the full Cl as it takes more time and training than the standard police interview
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
criticism of johnson & scott’s study:
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
