memory - factors affecting the accuracy of EWT

Question 1

what did barlett argue

Answer 1

memories are not accurate snapshots of events but are instead reconstructions which are influenced by our personal attitudes and stereotypes

Question 2

what is a schema

Answer 2

package of information about people and objects in the world around us which we use as mental short cuts

Question 3

what are leading questions

Answer 3

questions that imply a p[articular answer which influence how a memory is recalled. this could be due to an actual change in memory ( substitution bias explanation ) or due to an emotional pressure to give a particular response ( response bias explanation )

Question 4

what is post event discussion

Answer 4

when the recalling of events by one witness alters the accuracy of the recall of another witness

Question 5

what is memory conformity

Answer 5

when a witness goes along with another witnesses account for social approval

Question 6

what was loftus and palmers research into leading questions

Answer 6

participants were shown clips of traffic accidents and then was asked the following leading question: how fast were the cars going when they ___ into each other. the missing verb was either hit, smashed, collided, bumped and contacted.

Question 7

what were loftus and palmers findings on their research on leading questions

Answer 7

the more extreme the verb the faster the estimation of mph contacted = 31.8 and smashed = 40.8

Question 8

what do loftus and palmers findings suggest about leading questions

Answer 8

misleading information in the form of leading questions can influence the recall of EWT

Question 9

what was loftus and palmers follow up study on leading questions

Answer 9

participants were shown a car accident clip without broken glass. after viewing they asked how fast the cars were going including either verb hit or smashed and a control group. after 1 week they were asked did you see broken glass

Question 10

what were loftus and palmers findings on their follow up study on leading questions

Answer 10

participants were twice as likely in smashed condition to respond yes than the hit condition

Question 11

what do loftus and palmers findings in their follow up study suggest about leading questions

Answer 11

the effects of misleading information in the form of leading questions can be long lasting and actually change memories

Question 12

what was gabberts research on post event discussion

Answer 12

videos of crimes shot from different perspectives were shown to pairs of participants with unique information available in each film

Question 13

what were gabberts findings into his research on post event discussion

Answer 13

71% of pairs that were allowed to discuss included aspects of the film they had not seen in their recall of events compared to 0% in participants who were not allowed to discuss

Question 14

what do gabberts findings on post event discussion suggest

Answer 14

witnesses will change their account of a crime to match other witnesses testimony

Question 15

what was bodners research on post event discussion

Answer 15

used a similar experimental set up to gabbert however participants were discouraged from sharing information in their testimony

Question 16

what were bodners findings in his research on post event discussion

Answer 16

participants shared significantly less information gained from other witnesses

Question 17

what do bodners findings suggest about post event discussion

Answer 17

if warned about the dangers of post event discussion its effects can be reduced

Question 18

what is anxiety

Answer 18

a mental state of arousal that includes feelings of extreme concern and tension which is often accompanied by physiological changes such as an increased heart rate

Question 19

how does anxiety decrease recall in EWT

Answer 19

high levels of anxiety reduce recall of the criminals face. weapon focus is an explanation for this as weapons cause high anxiety, distracting witnesses and focusing their attention on the weapon rather than the criminal

Question 20

how does anxiety increase recall in EWT

Answer 20

a state of arousal will increase alertness, and awareness of the situation and surroundings

Question 21

what is yerks dodsons law of arousal

Answer 21

EWT accuracy increases as anxiety raises as the witness becomes alert, however at a point anxiety becomes too high resulting in lower accuracy of recall

Question 22

what was johnson and scotts research on anxiety

Answer 22

naive participants were placed outside a lab listening to 1 of 2 conversations:
1 - normal conversation about equipment failure, man walks out with greasy hands and a pen
2 - hostile, breaking glass, furniture knocked over, man walks out with knife covered in blood
participants were then asked to identify the man from 50 photos

Question 23

what were johnson and scotts findings of their research on anxiety

Answer 23

more participants identified the man with a pen ( 49% ) than the man with the knife ( 33% )

Question 24

what do johnson and scotts findings suggest about anxiety

Answer 24

the knife caused anxiety resulting in a decreased focus of the mans face

Question 25

what was peters research on anxiety

Answer 25

patients at a real health care centre were given real injections by a nurse with a researcher also present in the room

Question 26

what were peters findings in his research on anxiety

Answer 26

the patients were more able to recognise the researcher than the nurse

Question 27

what do peters findings suggest about anxiety

Answer 27

the injection caused anxiety so there is weapon focus on the syringe

Question 28

what was yuille and cutshalls criticising research on misleading information and anxiety

Answer 28

interviewed 13 witnesses to a deadly shooting 4 months after the event

Question 29

what were the findings of yuille and cutshalls criticising research on misleading information and anxiety

Answer 29

witnesses resisted misleading information and those closest to the shooter produced the most accurate EWT

Question 30

what do yuille and cutshalls findings suggest about misleading information and axiety

Answer 30

misleading information and anxiety may not be a significant problem for real world EWT

Question 31

what are the strengths of factors affecting EWT

Answer 31

research has lead to real life applications such as the development of the cognitive interview

Question 32

what are the weaknesses of factors affecting EWT

Answer 32

• lab based studies suffer demand characteristics
• researchers have an ethical duty to protect their participants from harm. research such as johnson and scotts breaks ethical guidelines so could be considered unethical