Topic 5: Accuracy of Eye Witness Testimony

Question 1

what are the three factors which affect the accuracy of EWT

Answer 1

leading questions
post event discussion
anxiety

Question 2

what are leading questions

Answer 2

questions which, because of the way it’s phrases, suggest a certain answer

Question 3

who’s research supports leading questions

Answer 3

Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Question 4

outline Loftus and Palmer’s procedure

Answer 4

• 45 american uni students divided into 5 groups
• each group shown same 7 clips of car crashes
• “About how fast were the cars going when they [verb] each other?”
• verbs were smashed, collided, bumped, hit, contacted

Question 5

outline Loftus and Palmer’s findings

Answer 5

• estimated speed varied based on the verb used
• smashed produced highest speed of 40.8 but contacted produced lowest speed of 31.8
• shows that choice of verb influenced participants perception

Question 6

outline Loftus and Palmer’s conclusion

Answer 6

• wording of questions can distort eyewitnesses memory
• memory is not a perfect recording and can be influenced by external factors like language

Question 7

what was the follow up study

Answer 7

Loftus and Zanni (1975)

Question 8

outline Loftus and Zanni’s procedure

Answer 8

• group of participants watched a video of a car accident
• participants were asked either: “did you see a/the broken headlight?”
• definitive vs non definitive
• there was no broken headlight

Question 9

outline Loftus and Zanni’s findings

Answer 9

• 17% said yes to the definitive
• 7% said yes to the non-definitive

Question 10

give one piece of contradicting research

Answer 10

yuille and cutshall (1986)
- witnesses of an armed robbery gave very accurate reports of crime 4 months later even with misleading questions
- real life study - ecologically valid
- leading questions don’t make a difference with real life crime?

Question 11

evaluate the generalisability of research into leading questions

Answer 11

P. research was done on uni students, hard to generalise universally
E. uni students usually have an above average IQ so their memories may be more efficient
E. they are younger and research shows that memory ability declines with age
L. study is limited in how far it can be used to explain effect of LQ

Question 12

evaluate the practical applications of research into leading questions

Answer 12

P. research has led to useful practical applications for society
E. research has contributed to development of enhanced cognitive interview used by police
E. eliminates leading questions usage in EWT
L. benefited criminal investigations in real life

Question 13

evaluate the internal validity of research into leading questions

Answer 13

P. well controlled lab experiments
E. experiments have high internal validity
E. we can make statements about cause and effect
L. validity of research strengthens the support

Question 14

evaluate the external validity of research into leading questions

Answer 14

P. they lack external validity because they are lab experiments
E. this is because they take place in artificial and uncontrolled settings
E. participant would expect the accident so they’d pay attention
L. difficult to generalise findings to real life EWT

Question 15

what is post event discussion

Answer 15

when witnesses to a crime discuss the events with others, their memories can become contaminated

Question 16

what factors can lead to post event discussion

Answer 16

Retroactive Interference, memory conformity, and repeated interviewing

Question 17

outline retroactive interference as a factor that leads to PED

Answer 17

• hearing about a crime on news or conversation could contaminate the original memory of events#
• as this new info may interfere, the accuracy of your memory could get called into Q
• in many countries, pre trial publicity is prohibited

Question 18

outline memory conformity as a factor that leads to PED

Answer 18

• many eyewitnesses have a desire to be correct and accepted
• if the eyewitness was to hear other testimonies, they could change their testimony consciously or unconsciously
• in high pressure environment of a court, we naturally have a drive to feel accepted
• in many countries, efforts are made to try and keep eyewitnesses apart

Question 19

outline repeat interviewing as a factor that leads to PED

Answer 19

• psychologists believe that repeated interviewing could damage original memory of events due to the reconstructive nature of memory
• subtle differences made in recall of events
• police tend to record all interviews carefully to help minimise the risk

Question 20

outline research to support PED as a negative impact on accuracy of EWT

Answer 20

Gabbert et al (2003)

Question 21

describe procedure of gabbert et al study

Answer 21

• participants watched a video of a girl stealing from a wallet
• participants were put into pairs and told they saw the same perspective but they didn’t
• participants discussed the video on what they saw

Question 22

describe findings of gabbert et al study

Answer 22

• 71% of witnesses recalled information they had never seen
• 60% said the girl was guilty even though they saw nothing

Question 23

evaluate research to support post event discussion

Answer 23

P. research supports
E. gabbert procedure
E. gabbert findings
L. PED clearly contaminates EWT

Question 24

evaluate individual differences of post event discussion

Answer 24

P. it may not account for other factors
E. eg individual differences - older people proven to be worse at EWT than younger people
E. research often uses younger people to be identified
L. implies that individual differences may affect the results of research into post event discussion

Question 25

evaluate the external validity of post event discussion

Answer 25

P. research suffers low external validity E. lab setting E. misses out key considerations such as anxiety L. research support for the effects of post event discussion may lack credibility

Question 26

evaluate the practical applications of post event discussion

Answer 26

P. practical applications to help society E. separate eye witnesses to avoid memory contamination E. leads to more accurate EWT L. improves criminal investigations

Question 27

what is anxiety

Answer 27

witnesses when they are in a state of high arousal - more likely if there is threat/danger

Question 28

what are the 3 areas to consider when looking at how anxiety affects EWT

Answer 28

1. anxiety level of witness 2. weapon focus effect 3. increased violence

Question 29

What does the Yerkes-Dodson law suggest

Answer 29

- performance and arousal are directly related - increase in arousal to a certain level can help boost performance - once arousal crosses optimal level, performance of individual diminishes

Question 30

give research to support the Yerkes Dodson law

Answer 30

Deffenbacher et al (2004)

Question 31

what did Deffenbacher find

Answer 31

- carried out a meta analysis of 63 studies - there was an increase in EWT accuracy up to high levels of anxiety - supports ideas proposed in the Yerkes Dodson law

Question 32

what is the weapons focus effect

Answer 32

if a witness is anxious due to a threat, they may pay more attention to the threat and remember more about the thing that poses a threat and less about details

Question 33

give research to support the weapons focus effect

Answer 33

Johnson and Scott (1976)

Question 34

what were the two conditions of Johnson and Scott's (1976) study

Answer 34

condition 1: pts overheard a low key discussion in a lab about equipment failure. a person then emerged from the lab holding a pen in grease covered hands condition 2: pts overheard a heated and hostile debate between people in the lab. after the sound of breaking glass and crashing chairs, a man came out of the lab holding a letter opener covered in blood

Question 35

what were the findings of Johnson and Scott's (1976) study

Answer 35

- they were then asked to recall the person from 50 photos 49% were able to recall the person when they held the pen 33% were able to recall the person when they held the letter opener

Question 36

give research to support that violent crimes affecting EWT

Answer 36

Loftus and Burns (1982)

Question 37

what was the procedure of Loftus and Burns (1982) study

Answer 37

- one group of participants saw a film of a crime with no violence - another group were shown the same film but with a violent incident (boy shot in face)

Question 38

what were the findings of Loftus and Burns (1982) study

Answer 38

those who saw the violent incident recalled significantly less than those who saw the film without the violence - anxiety caused by the violence negatively affected recall

Question 39

give research to support the fact that in real life situations EWT is still accurate besides anxiety

Answer 39

Yuille and Cutshall (1982)

Question 40

what was the procedure of Yuille and Cutshall (1982) study

Answer 40

- 21 witnesses of fatal shooting => all were interviewed by police - 13 witnesses agreed to a research interview 4-5 months after

Question 41

what was the results of Yuille and Cutshall (1982) study

Answer 41

- witnesses were highly accurate and little changed in amount or accuracy of recall over 5 months - only aspects of color memory, age, height and weight estimations differed - eyewitnesses resisted leading questions and stress levels at the time appeared to have no negative effects on memory

Question 42

evaluate contradictory evidence into anxiety and EWT

Answer 42

P. there is contradictory evidence that criticises impact of weapons focus and anxiety on ewt E. Pickel 1998 hair salon - different item in each variation of footage E. recall was poorer in low threat high unusualness condition (raw chicken) compared to high threat (scissors) and control conditions (wallety) L. accuracy can be affected by unusualness of an item not the threat it poses

Question 43

evaluate the internal validity of research into anxiety and EWT

Answer 43

P. studies are often well controlled and have high internal validity E. Loftus and Burns are well controlled - establish cause and effect E. level of anxiety during violence was responsible for changes in recall L. research provides good support for theory - credible

Question 44

evaluate the reliability of research into anxiety and EWT

Answer 44

P. high level of control increases reliability E. standardised procedures E. Loftus and burns: two experimental conditions L. study can be replicated with ease to check consistency

Question 45

evaluate the external validity of research into anxiety and EWT

Answer 45

P. reliance on lab experiments - low external validity E. crime is usually viewed on video E. less threatening and anxiety provoking L. not as generalisable to real life EWT

Question 46

evaluate inconsistent findings of research into anxiety and EWT

Answer 46

P. inconsistent findings are present E. Christian and Herbinette (1993) - 110 witnesses of 22 bank robberies E. bystanders + victims; some showed more detailed and accurate recall than others L. contradicts findings of experimental research - reduces credibility

Question 47

what is the cognitive interview

Answer 47

procedure used by police during interviews. uses recall strategies to increase accuracy of memories

Question 48

who made the cognitive interview

Answer 48

Fischer and Gieselman (1985,1992)

Question 49

what are the 4 cognitive interview techniques

Answer 49

- mental reinstatement of original context - report everything - change order - change perspective

Question 50

what is mental reinstatement of original context

Answer 50

witness is asked to recreate mentally the context of incident imagining themselves at the scene with emotional responses

Question 51

why is mental reinstatement of original context important

Answer 51

gives witnesses contextual and emotional cues from when event happened

Question 52

what is report everything

Answer 52

asking witnesses to tell police every single detail of their memories of the event

Question 53

why is reporting everything important

Answer 53

memories are often interconnected so by recalling an irrelevant piece of information it may then cue a whole lot of information

Question 54

what is change order

Answer 54

recalling events in an unusual order (backwards) it may help witnesses recall things which don't fit in with schemes

Question 55

why is change order important

Answer 55

witnesses may fill in blanks on what they expect to happen so by changing order it may prevent this happening

Question 56

what is change perspective

Answer 56

witnesses putting themselves in the place of other victims/witnesses

Question 57

why is change perspective important

Answer 57

witnesses may fill in blanks on what they expect to happen so by changing perspective it may prevent this happening

Question 58

what are techniques in the enhanced cognitive interview

Answer 58

- witness led - open ended questions - minimal distractions - slow speech - no guessing - anxiety reduction

Question 59

evaluate the strength of research to support the cognitive interview

Answer 59

P. Kohnken et al (1909) research supports E. conducted a meta analysis E. found that compared to standard interviewing techniques, CI was more accurate L. so CI is more effective than regular techniques

Question 60

evaluate the practical use of the cognitive interview

Answer 60

P. there are practical problems with the use of the cognitive interview E. police aren't given enough training E. they only received 4 hours of training which lacked information L. Ci needs more training which is impossible with police budget

Question 61

evaluate further practical problems with use of cognitive interview (Kebbell and Wagstaff 1999)

Answer 61

P.further practical problems E. kebbell and wagstaff survey report said police used Ci E. takes time to conduct and worried about large amount of incorrect information L. may be difficult for police to use CI in practical - limits usefulness

Question 62

evaluate the effectiveness of the cognitive interview

Answer 62

P. important to consider the way the CI is used that may make it more or less effective E. Milne + Bull (2002) found all 4 techniques used singularly produced more recall than standard interview E. however the Report everything and CR combination had less recall than individually using other parts L. whole CI isn't necessary for higher recall