Cogntive Debate-Relaibility Of Eye Witness Testimony Flashcards
(32 cards)
What are the 3 topics to talk about for the cogtive debate?
-Weapon focus
-Post event discussion
-Emotion
POST EVENT DISCUSSION-FOR-Point-One reason to suggest eye witness testimony is reliable is
There is evidence to suggest leading questions in eye witness net reviews will not distort the memory.
POST EVENT DISCUSION-FOR-Reseaech study-What they did.
-Loftus showed Ps a set of slides of a handbag robbery.-Immediatley after Ps were asked what colour the handbag was.-98% correctly answered that the handbag was red.
-The Ps then read an account,one version of the witness account had many incorrect facts and another version state a brown bag had been stolen.
POST EVENT DISCUSSION-FOR-Research what did they find?
-almost all the PS who read the brown bag account resisted the incorrect information and stuck to their memory of the red bag.
POST EVENT DISCUSSION-FOR-What is a social impilciation?
-One positive social implication is that if eye witness testimony is reliable it can provide compelling evidence used in court cases so we can use eye witness testimony alongside DNA and CCTV
-leading to more fair sentencing in the criminal justice system due to a suf variety of evidence.
POST EVENT DISCUION-FOR-Therefore eye witness testimony is reliable because…
-It shows how leading information does not distort/alter the memory of an event despite being given misleading information about the event
-Furthermore can lead to fairerprotect society from criminals.
POST EVENT DISCUSIION-AGASINT-Point-One reason to suggest eye witness testimony is unrealible is because
Post event discussion after a crime scene can heavily influence the inaccurate recall of memory’s.
POST EVENT DISCUSSION-AGAISNT-Research-what they did
-Ps watched video of a girl stealing money from a wallet,the PS were tested individually(control) or in pairs(co witness)
-The Ps in the co witness group were told they watched the same video however only 1 person witnessed the girl stealing
-The Ps in the co witness discussed the crime together and allPS completed a questionnaire testing their memory.
POST EVENT DISCUISSION-AGAISNT-Reseach what did they find?
-They found 71%. Of the witnesses in the co witness group recalled information they had not actually seen
-60% said the girl was guilty despite the fact they had not seen the girl commit the crime.
POST EVENT DISCUSSION-Negative economic implication?
One negative ecomimic implication is that it may lead to false accusations and convictions of innocent people because of the distorted memories of the crime
-This can be costly for the criminal justice system as they will have to pay out madotry compensation costs for holding innocent people in prison(1 million for 10 years).
POST EVENT DISCUSIION-Link-Therefore eye witness testimony is unreliable because…
These results highlight the issue of post event discussion and the powerful effects it can have on the accuracy of eye witness testimony often leading to false memories of the crime.
EMOTION-For-Point-One reason to suggest eye witness testimony is reliable is
-There is evidence to suggest we can rely on accurate recall of witnesses even after high anxiety expereinces of crime.
EMOTION-For-Research-What they did?
Christian son and Hubitnette
-110 witnesses of real life bank robberies were interviewed sometime after the robberies.
-Some of the witnesses had been onlookers or suctomers in the bank and others were bank employees who had been subjected to voilence.
EMOTION-For-Rsearch what did they find?
-They found that the victims were surprisingly accurate in their recall of the robbers clothing and behaviour
-the accuracy was evident 15 months later
EMOTION-FOR-A03 methodology
One strength of methodology is that it had a high ecological validity
-due to being in the feild(as it involved interviewing witnesses of 22 real life bank robberies),so as the crime took place in a more natural environment,thier memories of the bank robbery will be more reflective of real life eye witness testimony often leading
Increasing external validity
EMOTION-For-Therfore eye witness testimony is reliable because…
-as crime scenes can elicit a heightened emotional response and this anxiety can be beneficial to sharpen cogntive function and memory recall(supporting flashbulb memory)
-as a result can help to enhance the reliability of eye witness recall
EMOTION-Against-One reason to suggest EWT is unreliable is due to the fact that
-most witnesses of a crime scene will be very anxious and
-inverted U theory suggests their memory of the crime will be poor due to this.
EMOTION-What does inverted U theory state
-low levels of anxiety cogtive performance will be low
-but as anxiety increases so does performance until it reaches optimal level
-any further anxiety decreases performance
EMOTION-Research-Against -What they do?
-Peters used Ps who were visitors at a healthcare centre for routine injections.
-On the arrival Ps met a researcher who took their details
-They then visited the nurse who gave them an injection and went back home
EMOTION-Agaisnt-Research-What did they find?
-They found 1 week later Ps were significantly more able to identify the researcher than the nurse.
-Assuming the researcher created a moderate level of anxiety and the injection by the nurse created a high level of anxiety supports the inverted U theory.
EMOTION-Against-Ethical implication
-one negative ethical implication is the lack of protection from harm as it can devalue the experiences of eye witnesses if we claim them to be distorted and unreliable
-this may prevent witnesses who are experiencing extreme forms of distress and even PTSD from reaching it for help out of fear they will not be taken seriousley
-decreasing quality of life
EMOTION-Against-Therefore eye witness testimony is unrealible because
Crime scenes are often distressing and so witnesses will often expereince high levels of anxiety which can lead to a drop in cogtive performance based on inverted U theory
Reducing the accuracy of memory recall on attempts to recite the details of the crime scene
WEAPON FOCUS-Agaisnt-Point-One reason to suggest EWT is unreliable is
Due to the concepts of weapons focus
Weapon focus is where the presence of a weapon in the crime scene causes witnesses to focus their attention on the weapon
WEAPON FOCUS-Agaisnt-Research-what they did?
LOFTUS ET AL -conducted a lab experiment to test the impact of weapons focus on the accuracy of recall.
-Ps watched a video of a group of people moving through a queue at a taco time restaurant
-2 conditions-Ps either saw a customer who handed the cashier the bill or pulled out a gun on the cashier
-There eye movement was monitored as they watched the video.
-given a line up of 12 photos to choose the customer/robber from
