Memory: Factors Affecting Eyewitness Testimony

Question 1

What is an eyewitness testimony??

Answer 1

When people are asked to recall the details of events they have observed!

Question 2

What are the 2 things that affect the accuracy eyewitness testimony??

Answer 2

• Misleading information
• Anxiety

Question 3

What are the 2 forms of misleading information??

Answer 3

• Leading questions
• Post-event discussion

Question 4

What is the evidence that supports the effect of leading questions??

Answer 4

Loftus and Palmer (1974):
- Ppts watched a video of car accident and then asked how fast they thought the cars were going
- The critical verb was changed for each group:
‘ How fast were the cars going when the cars made contact/bumped/smashed/collided’

Question 5

What were the results of Loftus and Palmer’s (1974) experiment??

Answer 5

‘Made contact’ produced the slowest speed of 31.8mph
‘Smashed’ produced the fastest speed of 40.5mph

Question 6

What are the 2 reasons that leading questions affect EWT??

Answer 6

• Response bias (changes answer but not memories)
• Substitution explanation (Memory is actually impacted by question)

Question 7

What is post-event discussion??

Answer 7

Witnesses may discuss what they’ve seen with other people or co-witnesses

Question 8

What evidence supports the impact of post-event discussions on EWT??

Answer 8

Gabbert et al (2003):
- Ppts in pairs both watched videos of the same crime but from different views (both being able to see elements of the crime that the other couldn’t)
- Ppts discussed what they had seen before having a recall test

Control: Ppts didn’t discuss after the videos and recalled nothing they hadn’t seen

Question 9

What were the results of the Gabbert et al (2003) study??

Answer 9

71% of ppts recalled events they hadn’t seen but had picked up in discussion

Question 10

What was the conclusion of the Gabbert et al (2003) study??

Answer 10

Witnesses often go along with each other to win social approval or in belief that the other witnesses are right (Version of ISI)

Question 11

What are the 2 reasons for why post-event discussions affect EWT??

Answer 11

• Memory contamination (memories mix together)
• Memory conformity (ISI)

Question 12

What is a strength of misleading information affecting EWT?? (AO3)

Answer 12

It has real-world application to the criminal justice system
Loftus (1975) argues police officer should be careful with phrasing questions to witnesses because of distorting effects

Raised awareness in the justice system and can help it be more accurate

Question 13

What is a limitation of the research involved in investigating misleading information on EWT?? (AO3)

Answer 13

Loftus and Palmer’s ppts watched film clips and therefore couldn’t replicate the stress of witnessing a real event.
Foster et al (1994) said that witness memories in the real world have consequences but in an experiment they don’t. so they are less motivated to be accurate

Question 14

What is a counterpoint to the research of memory conformity from post-event discussions?? (AO3)

Answer 14

Skagerberg and Wright (2008)
- Ppts discussed film clips they had seen
- In one version, the mugger had dark hair and the other, light
- Ppts recalled a ‘blend’ of both rather than one or the other
- This suggests the memory was contaminated rather than being a result of conformity

Question 15

What is the scientific reasoning behind anxiety NOT helping recall??

Answer 15

Anxiety creates physiological arousal in the body. This prevents us paying attention to important cues so recall is worse.

Question 16

What is the study supporting anxiety NOT helping recall??

Answer 16

Johnson & Scott (1976):
- Controlled lab study
- 2 groups/2 conditions
- Low-anxiety condition: Ppts heard a conversation and then a man walked through the waiting room carrying a pen with his hands covered in grease
- High-anxiety condition: Ppts heard an argument and then a man walk through the room carrying a knife covered in blood

Question 17

What were the results of the Johnson & Scott (1976) study??

Answer 17

49% of ppts in low-anxiety identified the man
33% in high-anxiety identified the man

Question 18

What is the tunnel theory and the weapon focus effect??

Answer 18

Tunnel theory: People have enhanced memory for central events
Weapon focus effect: When a witness’s attention narrows to focus on the weapon because it’s a source of anxiety

Question 19

What is the scientific reasoning behind anxiety helping recall??

Answer 19

Stress of experiencing a crime creates anxiety through physiological arousal in the body.
Fight or flight response is triggered = increased alertness and improves memory of the event (we become more aware of the cues in the situation)

Question 20

What is the evidence supporting anxiety helping recall??

Answer 20

Yuille & Cutshall (1986):
- Field study
- 13 witnesses of a real shooting in Vancouver
- Ppts interviewed after 5 months & asked to recall details of the event and rate how stressed they felt
- Higher levels of stress were most accurate (88% compared to 75%

Question 21

What is contradictory evidence for anxiety having an effect on EWT??

Answer 21

Christianson & Hubinette (1993):
- Wide scale study of 22 bank robberies
- Found no relationship between rated degree of emotion and number of details recalled
- therefore found no evidence that high levels of physiological arousal or high anxiety are helpful in recall

Question 22

What is the limitation of the weapon focus effect?? (AO3)

Answer 22

• Focus on the weapon may be from surprise, not anxiety
• Pickel (1998) carried a handgun, wallet, scissors and raw chicken through a hairdressers and the least recall came from the handgun and raw chicken
• This shows that there was focus on the object because it was unusual rather than anxiety-inducing
• This tells us nothing about the specific effects of anxiety on recall

Question 23

What is a strength of anxiety having negative effects on recall??

Answer 23

Supporting evidence:
Valentine & Mesout (2009):
- Used heart rate (objective measure) to divide visitors to London Dungeon’s Labyrinth into low and high-anxiety groups
- High-anxiety group was less accurate in identifying a target person
- Supports that anxiety has negative effect on recall for EWT

Question 24

What is a limitation of using field studies for effects of anxiety on EWT??

Answer 24

If ppts have witnessed a real crime but asked about it after time has passed, post-event discussions could have taken place which means it is difficult o tell if inaccuracy of recall is caused by anxiety or post-event discussions