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?
when co-witnesses discuss the details of a crime or accident after it has taken place
who conducted the study into leading questions?
loftus & palmer (1974)
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 the cars 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 / 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: results & conclusion
RESULTS:
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
CONCLUSION:
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
-whilst the witness memories are still intact, their choice of response to a question / 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 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 (eg: same video, only verb was changed) reduces the chance of extraneous variables affecting the research / increases the validity of the research into leading questions / this means that causal relationships can be drawn more confidently
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
(2003)