Memory - factors affecting EWT

Question 1

Bartlett (1932)

Answer 1

suggested that schemas influence memory during memory reconstruction. memories aren’t objective.

Question 2

eyewitness testimony (EWT)

Answer 2

ability of people to remember details of events that they themselves have observed

Question 3

misleading information

Answer 3

incorrect info that affects accuracy of EWT after event. includes leading questions and post event discussion.

Question 4

what was Loftus and Palmer’s research into leading questions? (1974)

Answer 4

students watched clips of car accidents and then asked ‘how fast were cars when they …. each other?’. changed the verb for each group of pts. more aggressive verb = answering with higher average speeds than less aggressive verbs.

Question 5

why do leading questions affect EWT?

Answer 5

A response-bias explanation- wording of the question doesn’t effect the memory but influences how they decide to answer.
Substitution explanation- wording actually changes the memory of the event

Question 6

what was Loftus and Palmer’s follow up study?

Answer 6

leading question included verb smashed. people were more likely to agree they saw broken glass than verb ‘hit’. substitution explanation -> memory of the event is altered

Question 7

what was Gabbert et al’s study into post event discussion? (2003)

Answer 7

a pair of participants watched a video of the same crime, but from different perspectives. They then discussed what they had seen and then completed a test of recall. A control group did the same thing, however did not discuss the crime afterwards.
71% of participants mistakenly recalled the video if they had discussed it. 0% in control group with no PED

Question 8

memory contamination (post event discussion)

Answer 8

info from other witness combines with their own memory, memory is altered

Question 9

memory conformity (post event discussion)

Answer 9

co-witnesses agree with each other either for social approval or because they believe the other witness to be correct where they are wrong. memory is not actually altered

Question 10

evaluation of misleading information

Answer 10

+ useful real life application - changes the way in which police ask questions and stops criminal injustice etc.
- tasks artificial - No stress, which is very different to witnessing a real crime, emotions and stress have a big impact on recall.
- individual differences - YOUNG = more accurate OLD = less accurate

Question 11

weapon focus

Answer 11

focus on the weapon rather than the person that’s committing the crime/the crime itself

Question 12

what is a negative effect of anxiety on recall

Answer 12

weapon focus

Question 13

what was the method of Johnson and Scott’s study on weapon focus? (1976)

Answer 13

2 conditions: C1 = low anxiety, overhear a casual conversation, then a man walks past carrying a pen with grease on his hands. C2 = high anxiety situation, overhear a heated argument and then a man walks past with a knife covered in blood.
participants then had to pick the man out from a set of 50 photos

Question 14

what were the results of Johnson and Scott’s study?

Answer 14

49% in C1 correctly picked out man. 33% in C2.

Question 15

what is tunnel theory?

Answer 15

focusing on central events, in this case weapon focus in high anxiety situations

Question 16

what is a positive effect of anxiety on recall

Answer 16

fight or flight

Question 17

fight or flight

Answer 17

the physiological reaction that occurs when your body is faced with something mentally or physically terrifying

Question 18

what was Yuille and Cutshall’s study into fight or flight?

Answer 18

a study after a real life shooting. interviewed 3 participants 4-5 months after the event. they were asked to rate how stressed they were on a 7 point scale. their recall was compared to their initial police interviews.

Question 19

what were the results of Yuille and Cutshall’s study?

Answer 19

recall was 88% accurate for highest stress levels and 75% for the less stressed group. anxiety doesn’t have a negative effect on recall

Question 20

what was Yerkes and Dodson’s model of anxiety vs eyewitness testimony?

Answer 20

emotional arousal and performance is like an inverted-U shape

Question 21

strengths of anxiety’s affect on EWT?

Answer 21

supported by other studies:
- 58 witnesses to bank robberies were interviewed. being directly involved meant higher anxiety. recall was 75% accurate across all witnesses and even higher in people who were directly involved
- measured heart rate in a labyrinth to measure anxiety objectively. 17% in high anxiety group could accurately recall, compared to 75% in low anxiety.

Question 22

weaknesses of anxiety’s affect on EWT?

Answer 22

-Johnson and Scott might not have tested anxiety, people may have focused on weapon due to their surprise.
- Yuille and Cutshall had no control over pts between event and study - there could have been PED or other confounding variables that affected results.
- the inverted U focuses on physiological stress rather emotional, behavioural, etc. so it may be too simplistic.