week 7

Question 1

What are the 3 stages of memory?

Answer 1

encoding, storage and retrieval

Question 2

Factors that affect Eyewitness Identification

What are Estimator Variables?

Answer 2

Factors related to the event and the eyewitness, beyond legal system control, affecting memory encoding and storage (e.g., stress, viewing quality).

Question 3

memory

What are System Variables?

Answer 3

Factors controlled by the legal system, such as methods for retrieving and recording eyewitness memory, mainly influencing memory retrieval.

Question 4

Name some encoding factors that affect memory accuracy.

Answer 4

Stress, weapon presence, change blindness, stereotyping, intoxication, and age.

Question 5

How can stress positively affect eyewitness memory?

Answer 5

High-stress conditions may improve accuracy and resistance to forgetting, especially for emotional or central details (e.g., Yuille et al., 1994).

Question 6

How can stress negatively affect eyewitness memory?

Answer 6

High stress can impair memory, reducing accuracy for details and increasing susceptibility to misinformation (e.g., Valentine & Mesout, 2009).

Question 7

Memory

What is the Yerkes-Dodson law?

Answer 7

It suggests a moderate level of stress enhances performance, while low or high stress reduces memory accuracy.

Question 8

What is Weapon Focus?

Answer 8

A phenomenon where attention narrows on a weapon, impairing memory for other details of the event.

Question 9

What is Change Blindness?

Answer 9

Failure to notice changes in an event when attention is distracted or assumptions about continuity are made.

Question 10

How does stereotyping affect eyewitness memory?

Answer 10

Stereotypes may fill memory gaps, especially under cognitive load, potentially leading to errors.

Question 11

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How does intoxication influence memory?

Answer 11

Intoxication can narrow focus to central details, but it may impair overall recall and detail retention.

Question 12

How does age impact eyewitness reliability?

Answer 12

Young adults have the most reliable memories; older adults recall fewer or less accurate details; children’s memory improves with age but may lack accuracy.

Question 13

What are the factors affecting memory retention (Storage Factors)?

Answer 13

Post-event information, false memories, delay, and emotional/traumatic memories.

Question 14

What is the Misinformation Effect?

Answer 14

A phenomenon where post-event information, such as discussions with other witnesses, alters a person’s memory of the event.

Question 15

What was the Loftus et al. (1978) study on misinformation?

Answer 15

Participants viewed a car accident slide show, were given misleading (e.g., yield sign) or consistent (stop sign) information, and later tested on memory accuracy. 57% of misled participants reported seeing the false detail.

Question 16

What are false memories?

Answer 16

Memories for events that did not occur, potentially implanted through suggestion, imagination, or therapy (e.g., Loftus & Pickrell, 1995, “Lost in the shopping mall”).

Question 17

How does delay affect memory?

Answer 17

Memory decays rapidly over time, but repeated testing can slow this decay and improve retention.

Question 18

What factors influence memory retrieval?

Answer 18

Question format, suggestive questioning, retrieval enhancement techniques, confidence, and the accuracy-informativeness trade-off.

Question 19

How can suggestive questioning affect eyewitness memory?

Answer 19

Leading questions (e.g., Loftus & Palmer, 1974) can distort memory, such as altering speed estimates and perceptions of details like broken glass.

Question 20

What is the role of confidence in eyewitness memory?

Answer 20

Confidence can predict accuracy but involves a trade-off between reporting detailed information and ensuring correctness.

Question 21

What is the Cognitive Interview?

Answer 21

A retrieval enhancement technique that helps witnesses recall events more accurately by focusing on context and detail (Fisher & Geiselman, 1992).

Question 22

Why is conducting an interview demanding and difficult for interviewers?

Answer 22

Pressure to solve a case.
Managing distracting conditions.
Handling cognitively taxing tasks (e.g., taking notes, thinking of follow-up questions).

Question 23

Why is conducting an interview challenging for witnesses?

Answer 23

Differences in social and cognitive abilities.
Potential stress.
Hesitancy to disclose information.

Question 24

What are the shortcomings(mancanze) of traditional investigative interviews?

Answer 24

• Little rapport-building.
• Use of complex questions/language.
• Rigid, pre-scripted questions and suggestive/leading questions.
• Lack of tailoring to developmental, social, or cognitive abilities

Question 25

What are the components of the Cognitive Interview (CI)?

Answer 25

1. Social Dynamics: Establish rapport, promote active participation.
2. Cognitive Processes: Encourage recall using techniques like storytelling backward or context reinstatement.
3. Communication: encourage elaborate responding and use of non verbal tec

Question 26

What factors affect children’s interview performance?

Answer 26

• Vocabulary limitations.
• Narrative ability.
• Conceptual understanding (e.g., time perception).
• Hesitance to indicate misunderstanding.
• Source monitoring errors.
• Susceptibility to suggestibility.

Question 27

What is the Memorandum of Good Practice (MOGP)?

Answer 27

1. Developed in 1992 by UK Home Office.
2. Provides guidelines for eliciting credible testimony from children using open-ended prompts and narrative accounts.
3. Focuses on rapport building and phased interview approaches.

Question 28

What are the types of questions used in child interviews?

Answer 28

• Invitation: Open-ended, e.g., “Tell me everything that happened.”
• Cued Invitation: Focuses on details already mentioned, e.g., “You said he touched you. Tell me more.”
• Directive: WH-questions about already mentioned info, e.g., “What color was his shirt?”
• Option Posing: Introduces options, e.g., “Did it hurt?”
• Suggestive: Implies information, e.g., “He wanted you to kiss him, didn’t he?”

Question 29

What is the NICHD protocol for child interviews?

Answer 29

1.Pre-Substantive Phase:
* Introduce rules and rapport building.
* Practice narratives to help recall details.
2.Transitional Phase:
* Identify the target event using open-ended prompts.
3.Substantive Phase:
* Exhaust free recall before using directive or option-posing questions.
* Avoid suggestive/leading questions.

Question 30

What solutions exist for improving investigative interviews?

Answer 30

• Use structured, evidence-based protocols like the NICHD protocol.
• Train interviewers extensively and regularly.
• Conduct ongoing professional development.

Question 31

Why do deviations from best practices occur in child interviews?

Answer 31

Difficulty adhering to protocols.
Lack of training or awareness of errors.