Pozzulo et al.'s cognitive core study on line-ups Flashcards
Assumptions of the cognitive approach and how they relate to this core study
The psychology that is being investigated
- Eye witness testimony refers to the information provided by an individual based on what they remember from witnessing an event. They may be interviewd by open or closed interviews, even questionnaires. Some say that eyewitnesses may provide false positive results.
- false positive When a person selects something (eg: a person) that is not correct, but the eye witness believes it to be.
The Background
There are real life instances of crimes committed and children are the eyewitnesses. There has been shown to be a qualitative difference in the testimonies of children versus adults accuracy. Children very often would choose someone who was in the line up, even if the culprit was absent, compared to adults. It is assumed that both cognitive and social factors play a role in these results.
The Aims
- To investigate if false positive and correct identification in line ups is caused by cognitive or social factors
- To investigate correct identification and false positive responses during a line up situation in relation to familiarity of the target
The procedures for child
- parents were given a consent form, a demographic form, and a cartoon watching form.
- Researchers came into the schools and invited the children with completed forms to participate.
- Three female researchers and feamle faciliatrors introduced the study as playing computer games and watching videos.
- They were told to pay attention to the videos and some of the pictures.
- Research team engaged doing crafts with the child
- All participants were monitored for signs of distress, and were aware that they could choose to stop participating in the study at any time.
- The first of four videos was shown to the child and after the clip finished , the researcher would ask open ended
- The 2 non specific open ended questions leading with the “instruction for line up indentification”
- this was repeated 3 more times, for each video clip.
- Child thanks with a small gift
Example of “small gift’”
a coloring book
The procedures for adults
- Complete consent form
- Told it was about memory and to pay attention as question would be asked afterwards
- Given a sheet to answer same free reacall questions as children
- All same as children except answers where recorded on a matching sheet
- After video clips adults completed the demographic and cartoon watching form
- Lastly debriefed and thanked for their participation
example of the open ended question given to the child
What did the cartoon charater look like?
The research method used
Laboratory experiment
The number of child participants and where they were from
- 59
- 21 females
- 38 males
- ages 4-7
- from 3 private school classes in eastern ontario
The number of adult participants and where they were from
- 53 adults
- 36 females
- 17 males
- ages 17-30
- From introductory psychology participant pool
The sampling method used
- Children unknown
- Adults were volunteers from participant pool
The experimental design used
- Independent groups ( for children vs adults)
- Repeated measures (for human/cartoon and target absent/present line part)
The control used
- Same instructiond for line up identification
- All experiment wore white lab coats
- all completed response form prior to procedure
- All videos and line-up orders random
Types of questions asked
- Demographic and cartoon watching form
- Open ended questions (free call discriptions)
