Memory:Factors affecting accuracy of EWT

Question 1

What are the 2 factors that affect EWT accuracy?

Answer 1

Misleading info
Anxiety

Question 2

What are the 2 types of misleading info?

Answer 2

leading questions and post event discussion

Question 3

What are the explanations for the influence of leading questions?

Answer 3

response bias-wording of question has no affect on ppts memory but influences how they decide to answer

substitution-wording of question changes the ppts memory for the event

Question 4

What evidence is there to support the response bias explanation

Answer 4

Loftus and Palmer 1974
-45 ppts had to est the speed of cars in 7 films involving car accidents
-there was 5 conditions and ppts were asked how far the car was going when it hit/contacted/bumped/smashed/collided
Findings-
contacted:speed=31.8mph
smashed=40.8mph

Question 5

What evidence is there to support the substitution explanation

Answer 5

Loftus and Palmer 1974
-150 ppts put into 3 groups and shown clip of a car accident
G1-smashed
G2-hit
G3-no questions about speed
-1 week later all asked if they saw any broken glass
Findings-
32% reported glass in smashed condition , 14% in hit and 13% in control

Question 6

What can post event discussion result in ?

Answer 6

information being added after the event which will bias the testimony

Question 7

What are the 2 explanations for affect of post event discussion?

Answer 7

memory contamination-become confused about what they witnessed and what they’ve been told by others

memory conformity-go along with others for approval(NSI) or because they believe others remember more(ISI)

Question 8

What evidence is there to support memory conformity?

Answer 8

Gabbert 2003
-ppts watched a video of crime in pairs , each ppt watched it from a different perspective so each ppt could see elements that others couldn’t see
-then discussed what they saw and did a recall test
Findings-
71% mistakenly recalled things they couldn’t have seen and 0% in control group

Question 9

What is a further strength of research into misleading info

Answer 9

+it has important RW applications
-research has informed police how to effectively interview to avoid leading questions
-adds external validity to explanation and credibility to research

Question 10

What are further weaknesses of research into misleading info?

2

Answer 10

-practical apps may be impacted by methodological issues as Loftus and Palmer’s experiments were done in a lab which isn’t reflective of RL events so EWT may be different when there are consequences involved , challenges external validity

-there is evidence to challenge memory conformity from Skaggerberg and Wright 2008
they found ppts memory was distorted through memory contamination instead suggesting memory conformity isn’t a complete explanation

Question 11

How can anxiety have a negative effect on recall?

Answer 11

it creates arousal which prevents us from paying attention to important cues so worsens recall

Question 12

How can anxiety have a positive effect on recall?

Answer 12

it triggers the fight or flight response which increases our alertness and improves our memory and it makes us more aware of cues

Question 13

What does the Yerkes-Dodson Law say?

Who used this law to explain their findings?

Answer 13

it explains the contradiction as it says that small/medium levels of anxiety increases accuracy nut high levels interferes with accuracy

Deffenbacher 1983 meta analysis found inconsistent findings for the affect of anxiety so used the law to explain this

Question 14

What is the weapon focus effect?

Answer 14

in violent crimes involving weapons , anxiety focuses witness on the weapon rather than other details of the event

Question 15

What is a strength of research into the affect of anxiety?

Answer 15

+there is supporting evidence from Johnson and Scott 1976
-2 groups of ppts heard either a heated discussion or a calm one and a man emerged either with no weapon or a paper knife with blood on it , they had to identify the man from 50 images
Findings-
49% correctly identified in no weapon condition
33% in weapon condition

Question 16

What is a however point for Johnson and Scott’s supporting evidence?

Answer 16

the study may not have tested anxiety as ppts may have focused on the weapon through surprise not fear
Pickrel 1998 supports this as found that EWT less accurate in unusual conditions

Question 17

What is another strength of the affect of anxiety?

Answer 17

+ there is evidence to support from Christianson and Hubinette 1993
-10 ppts given a questionaire , they had all seen 22 bank robberies either as bystanders or direct victims
Findings-
people who were most anxious gave a more accurate recall

Question 18

What is a however point for Christianson and Hubinette’s research?

Answer 18

the ppts were interviewed several months after the events
-researchers had no control over what happened to them in between the gap which invalidates any conclusions