Quiz 2 Flashcards
Loftus and Zanni
Suggestive/leading questioning can influence responses
High stress levels
result in poorer memory for both the perpetrator’s appearance and other crime details
The race of the eyewitness
Eyewitnesses are better able to correctly identify a member of their own race compared to a member of a different race
weapon focus
If a weapon is present, witnesses often focus on that (a term called weapon focus) and therefore have a less reliable memory for other aspects of the crime (Saunders, 2009).
Estimator variables
are those variables or factors that are present at the time of the crime and cannot be changed.
System variables
are those variables or factors that can be manipulated to increase (or decrease) eyewitness accuracy, such as the type of procedure used by police to interview the witness or the type of lineup procedure used to present the suspect to the witness.
Open-ended recall
witnesses are asked to either write or orally state all they remember about the event without the officer (or experimenter) asking questions.
Direct question recall
witnesses are asked a series of specific questions about the crime or the perpetrator.
perpetrator lineup
a set of people presented to the witness, who in turn must identify the perpetrator if they are present.
Clothing lineups
the witness examines clothing that may have been worn by the perpetrator, are sometimes also used.
Fisher and colleagues (1987)
They analyzed 11 tape-recorded interviews from a police department in Florida. Eight detectives, who averaged 10.5 years of experience each, conducted these interviews. The researchers found a lot of variation in how the interviews were conducted. In general, however, the researchers found that the officers would introduce themselves, ask the eyewitnesses to report what they remembered by using an open-ended format, and then ask the witnesses a series of direct questions to determine specific information, such as the age or height of the perpetrator.
Memory Conformity (Douglass & Pavletic, 2011)
Witnesses can be “contaminated” if they know what other witnesses have reported. What one witness says about a crime can affect what another witness will say if those witnesses communicate with one another or come to learn what the other has reported
The misinformation effect, also called the Post-event information effect
is a phenomenon in which a witness who is presented with inaccurate information after an event will incorporate that misinformation into a subsequent recall task (Loftus, 1975).
cognitive interview
The cognitive interview can be used with eyewitnesses, but it is not a procedure recommended for use with unwilling participants, such as suspects. The cognitive interview is based on four memory retrieval techniques to increase recall: (1) reinstating the context, (2) reporting everything, (3) reversing order, and (4) changing perspective.
enhanced cognitive interview
including various principles of social dynamics in addition to the memory retrieval principles used in the original cognitive interview.
Foils or Distractors
placing a suspect in a lineup, other lineup members may be included. Can use similarity to suspect or match to description. These people are innocent of the crime.
target-present lineup
A lineup that contains the perpetrator
target-absent lineup
the lineup does not contain perpetrator but rather an innocent suspect
Reasons why photo arrays are more common than lineups
-Less time-consuming
-They are portable
-Suspect does not have to present
-Photos are static
-Witness will be less anxious
simultaneous lineup
The simultaneous procedure presents all lineup members at one time to the witness.
relative judgment
lineup members are compared with one another and the person who looks most like the perpetrator is identified.
sequential lineup
involves presenting the lineup members serially to the witness.
absolute judgment
each lineup member is compared with the witness’ memory of the perpetrator and the witness decides whether it is the perpetrator.
showup
This procedure shows one person to the witness: the suspect. The witness is asked whether the person is the perpetrator.
walk-by
This identification occurs in a naturalistic environment. The police take the witness to a public location where the suspect is likely to be. Once the suspect is in view, the witness is asked whether they see the perpetrator.
Lineup Biases
- Foil bias. The suspect is the only lineup member who matches the description of the perpetrator. For example, the suspect has a beard and moustache while the other lineup members are clean-shaven (Lindsay, Lea, & Fulford, 1991).
- Clothing bias. The suspect is the only lineup member wearing clothing similar to that worn by the perpetrator. For example, the perpetrator was described as wearing a blue baseball cap. The suspect is wearing a blue baseball cap while the foils are not (Dysart, Lindsay, & Dupuis, 2006; Lindsay et al., 1991; Lindsay, Wallbridge, & Drennan, 1987).
- Instruction bias. The police fail to mention to the witness that the perpetrator may not be present; rather, the police imply that the perpetrator is present and that the witness should pick them out (Clark, 2005; Malpass & Devine, 1981; Steblay, 1997).
cross-race effect, also known as the other-race effect and the own-race bias
the phenomenon of witnesses remembering faces of people of their own race with greater accuracy than they remember faces of people of other races
Weapon focus
the term used to describe the phenomenon of a witness’ attention being focused on the perpetrator’s weapon rather than on the perpetrator (Steblay, 1992)
cue-utilization hypothesis
explain why a witness may focus on the weapon rather than other details. The hypothesis suggests that when emotional arousal increases, attentional capacity decreases.
anatomically detailed dolls
anatomically detailed dolls to see if child has been sexually abused , sometimes like a rag doll, are consistent with the male or female anatomy. Dolls may be of an adult male or female or a young male or female.
narrative elaboration
With this procedure, children learn to organize stories into relevant categories: Participants, Settings, Actions, Conversation/affective states, Consequences
False memory syndrome
a term coined to describe clients’ false beliefs that they were sexually abused as children. Clients may have no memories of this abuse until they enter therapy to deal with some other psychological problem, such as depression or substance abuse (Read, 1999)
