Eyewitness Testimony

Question 1

What is eyewitness testimony?

Answer 1

The ability of people to remember details of events they have seen such as crimes or accidents

Question 2

Who investigated the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of EWT?

Answer 2

Loftus and Palmer (1974) - Car crash clip

Question 3

What was the procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 3

Participants watched a film clip of a car crash and then gave the speed estimates of the cars based on a leading question

Question 4

What was the leading question format for Loftus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 4

“About how fast were the cars going when they X into each other?” With each group being exposed to a critical verb in the place of ‘X’

Question 5

What were the five verbs that Loftus and Palmer used in their study?

Answer 5

Smashed, collided, bumped, hit & contacted

Question 6

What were the findings of Loftus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 6

Participants given ‘smashed’ as their verb estimated a speed of 40.5mph. Those given ‘contacted’ estimated 31.8mph

Question 7

What do the results of Loftus and Palmer’s study show?

Answer 7

The phrasing of the questions suggested how fast the car was going and affected the participant’s answer.

Question 8

What is postevent discussion?

Answer 8

When, following an event, witnesses may discuss what they have seen, resulting in altering or distortion of their own memory

Question 9

What was the study into postevent discussion?

Answer 9

Gabbert et al. (2003) - pairs of participants watching the same crime from different points of view

Question 10

What was the procedure of Gabbert’s study into postevent discussion?

Answer 10

Ps were put into pairs and each watched a video of the same crime filmed from different POVs. Each participant could see things the other couldn’t. Both Ps discussed what they had seen before individually completing a test of recall to see whether they had seen certain things.

Question 11

What were the findings of Gabbert’s study into postevent discussion?

Answer 11

71% of the Ps mistakenly recalled aspects of the event that they did not see in the video, but had picked up in the discussion.

Question 12

What were the findings of the control group in Gabbert’s study into post event discussion?

Answer 12

In the control group, where there was no discussion, the number of errors made like in the experimental condition was 0%

Question 13

What was the conclusion of Gabbert’s study into post event discussion?

Answer 13

That witnesses often go along with each other, either to win social approval or because they believe the other witnesses are right and they are wrong

Question 14

What is a strength of the studies into the effects of misleading information on eyewitness testimony?

Answer 14

Real world application - the questions asked in police interviews are amended/worded to avoid asking leading questions

Question 15

Why are the lab studies such as Loftus and Palmer’s not valid explanations about eyewitness testimony?

Answer 15

They lack the emotional aspect of witnessing an accident or crime in real life. Therefore, they may not tell us about how EWT works in the real world with the effects of adrenaline and anxiety in the moment.

Question 16

Which study demonstrated that anxiety has a negative effect on the accuracy of EWT?

Answer 16

Johnson and Scott (1976) - doctors waiting room fight

Question 17

What were the two conditions of Johnson and Scott’s study into the effect of anxiety on EWT?

Answer 17

Both groups heard an argument in an adjacent room, followed by glass breaking.
1st: A man walked out holding a pen, with grease on his hands
2nd: A man walked out with a paper knife, with blood on his hands

Question 18

What were the findings of Johnson and Scott’s study into the effect of anxiety on EWT?

Answer 18

49% of the ‘pen group’ later correctly identified the man in a lineup
33% of the ‘knife group’ later correctly identified the man in a lineup

Question 19

What do the findings of Johnson and Scott’s study suggest?

Answer 19

Anxiety has a negative effect on EWT as witnesses will focus on the weapon as a source of anxiety and not concentrate on any other details (weapon focus effect)

Question 20

Which study demonstrated that anxiety can have a positive effect on recall?

Answer 20

Yuille and Cutshall (1986) - real life robbery of a gun shop

Question 21

What did Yuille and Cutshall find from their study?

Answer 21

The Ps who reported experiencing the highest levels of stress were 11% more accurate in their recall of the details of the event

Question 22

What does the Yerkes-Dodson law state?

Answer 22

That there is an inverted-U relationship between increasing arousal and increasing performance. Moderate arousal brings the highest levels of performance.

Question 23

Limitation: Internal validity of Johnson and Scott?

Answer 23

• J&S may have actually tested surprise rather than anxiety over the weapon
• Pickel (1998) - Ps were less accurate with recall when viewing a scene in a hair salon with unusual items like raw chicken
• Suggests that the weapon focus effect is due to unusualness rather than anxiety, so J&S study doesn’t measure what it says it does

Question 24

Limitation: Ethical issues of research into EWT?

Answer 24

Loftus and Palmer exposed Ps to distressing images
Johnson and Scott put Ps in a high stress situation
Yuille and Cutshall forced Ps to recall traumatic crimes
BREAKS GUIDLINE THAT Ps WILL BE PROTECTED FROM PSYCHOLOGICAL HARM