memory: EWT > misleading information Flashcards
What is eyewitness testimony?
The ability of people to remember the details of events such as accidents and crimes they have observed.
What is misleading information?
Incorrect information given to the eyewitness usually after the event, which can take forms such as leading questions and post-event discussions. > this can distort an eyewitness’s memory of an event.
Define leading questions.
A question that suggests a certain answer because of the way it is phrased.
They can alter a person’s perception of the event, affecting the accuracy of their memory.
give examples of leading and non-leading questions
There was a man with dark sunglasses standing outside, right? VS Was anyone standing outside?
Wouldn’t you say these examples are getting repetitive? VS What are your thoughts on these examples?
What was the aim of Loftus and Palmer’s study?
To test the hypothesis that the language used in eyewitness testimony can alter memory.
What method did Loftus and Palmer use in their study?
45 students were shown films of traffic accidents and then given a questionnaire about the accident, including a critical question about speed.
what was the critical question
about how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?
What were the different verbs used in Loftus and Palmer’s critical question?
- Smashed
- Collided
- Bumped
- Hit
- Contracted
What was the mean estimated speed for each verb in Loftus and Palmer’s study?
Smashed 40.8
Collided 39.3
Bumped 38.1
Hit 34.0
Contracted 31.8
What conclusion did Loftus and Palmer draw from their study?
The verb used in the question influenced participants’ perceptions of the accident and altered their memory. > some critical words would lead someone to have a perception of the accident being more serious
What is a post-event discussion?
When witnesses discuss what they have seen after an event, which may influence the accuracy of their recall.
What is memory conformity?
When witnesses go along with each other during discussions, either for social approval or because they believe others are correct
What was the aim of Gabbert et al.’s study?
To investigate the effect of post-event discussion on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.
How did Gabbert et al. conduct their study?
Her sample consisted of 60 students and 60 older adults
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 cowitness 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.
What percentage of witnesses in the co-witness group recalled information they had not actually seen in Gabbert et al.’s study?
71%
What other result did Gabbert et al. find regarding witnesses’ perceptions of the girl’s guilt?
60% of witnesses in the co-witness group said the girl was guilty, despite not seeing her commit a crime.
What issue does Gabbert et al.’s study highlight about post-event discussions?
The powerful effect post-event discussions can have on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.
what was the mean speed estimated speed for the word smashed
40.8
what was the mean speed estimated speed for the word contracted
31.8
True or false: 67% of the witnesses in the co-witness group recalled information they had not actually seen
FALSE > 71%
AO3: artificial task
research into misleading information often involves artificial tasks
For example, Loftus and Palmer asked students to watch a clip of a car accident and they had to decide how fast the car was travelling.
This is a limitation as the task is artificial. Watching a car accident through a video clip is a very different experience from watching one in real life as the individual is likely to be extremely distressed and anxious when witnessing it in real life. This can affect the participants judgement and response. It has been found that emotion can affect an individuals memory.
WEAKNESS as studies that use artificial tasks lack external validity as they tell us very little about how leading questions can affect EWT in cases of real crimes or accidents. Additionally, conducting studies in lab can affect the validity of the results. As research suggests many answers participants give in lab studies of EWT are the result of demand characteristics.
WEAKNESS as it means we cannot rely on the results of lab studies and the findings may lack validity
AO3: individual differences
There are individual differences
There is evidence to suggest that older people are less accurate than younger people when giving eyewitness reports. For example, Anastasi and Rhobes found that people in age groups 18-25 and 35-45 were more accurate than people aged 55-78.
WEAKNESS as research studies often use younger people as participants in these studies. This means that some groups are not represented within these studies. So we may inaccurately generalise the findings to the entire population, when in real ity
age can affect the results.
AO3: real life application
research has important practical use in the real world. From these studies we have learnt that leading questions, misleading information and post-event discussions can lead to an inaccurate EWT. From this information, we can educate police officers and detectives on how not to conduct an eyewitness interview.
STRENGTH as this can help prevent or reduce the number of inaccurate eyewitness testimonies, which can have enormous positive results for the individual as it prevents innocent people from being wrongly convicted.
AO3: contradicting evidence
there is evidence to go against memory conformity
Skagerberg and Wright showed their participants film clips. There were two versions, e.g. a mugger’s hair was dark brown in one but light brown in the other. Participants discussed the clips in pairs, each having different versions. They often did not report what they had seen in the clips or what they had heard from the co-witness, but a blend of the two e.g a common answer to the hair question was not light brown or dark brown but medium brown.
WEAKNESS this suggests that memory is distorted through contamination by misleading post-event discussion, rather than the result of memory conformity
