Misleadinf Information and post event discussion

Question 1

Eyewitness testimony

Answer 1

• refers to the information recalled about a crime by an eyewitness

Question 2

Explain Loftus and Palmers study

Answer 2

• participants watched a film of a car crash and then gave speed estimates of the car based on the leading questions of ‘about how fast were the cars going when they X into each other ?’
• those exposed to the verb ‘smashed’ have a speed estimate 8.7mph greater than those who heard ‘contacted ‘
• leading questions suggest that there is a correct answer

Question 3

Loftus and Palmer’s study supports what type of explanation. ?

Answer 3

• supports the substitution explanation (I.e leading questions change the eyewitness’ memory of the crime )
• as those who’d heard the word ‘smashed’ were more likely to report having seen broken glass (despite there being no glass) compared to those who heard ‘contacted ‘
• this is in comparison to the effects of leading questions being explained using the idea of response bias (these question only influence the participants to give a certain answer )

Question 4

Post event discussion

Answer 4

Describe the discussions that take place between co witnesses after the crime has taken place

Question 5

Gabberts study for post event discussion

Answer 5

• matches pairs design
• showed participants a film of the same crime scene, but with different details for each member
• after engaging in post event discussions with the other member of each pair and individually, the researchers found 71 % inaccuracy rates of info gained through such discussions, compared to a 0% control group rate who had worked alone throughout

Question 6

Weakness of Loftus and planets study

Answer 6

• lab study
• doesn’t represent real life ( lacks mundane realism )
• can the findings be applied to outside of the lab ?)
• lower ecological validity
• watching a video has less emotional impact than witnessing real life crimes

Question 7

Strength of Loftus and palmers study

Answer 7

• real life application
• lead to techniques to improve EWT
• e.g. cognitive interview
• shows the dangers of misleading questions