Eyewitness testimony Flashcards
(21 cards)
What is anxiety
An unpleasant state of high arousal
Study showing anxiety’s positive effect on recall
Yuille and Cutshall studied a real gun shop robbery of 13 witnesses.
Yuille and Cutshall results
Those who reported high levels of stress were more accurate in their recall of details.
Strengths of Yuille and Cutshall
High ecological validity
Weaknesses of Yuille and Cutshall
Not controlled (can’t repeat for inter-rater reliability)
Anxiety is subjective (self-report measures)
Small sample (cannot generalise)
Can be seen as unethical
Study showing anxiety’s negative effect on recall
Johnson and Scott used two groups, both hearing an argument and glass breaking. Group 1 saw a man with a pen and grease on his hand, group 2 saw a man with a paper knife and blood on his hands.
Johnson and Scott results
49% of group 1 identified him, only 33% of group 2
Johnson and Scott strengths
Controlled setting makes it repeatable and can check for inter-rater reliability
Johnson and Scott weaknesses
Ethical issues of harm
Low ecological validity as it is a controlled environment (they know that it isn’t real)
Independent measures makes it subject to ppt variables.
What explais the contradictory findings of anxiety on eyewitness testimony
Yerkes-Dodson law found that little anxiety prevents good performance, but excessive anxiety also does. Inbetween is helpful.
Weakness of Yerkes-Dodson law
Anxiety levels are subjective and depend on the individual.
What is a leading question
A question that prompts or encourages the answer wanted
Example of a leading question
You enjoyed the party, didn’t you?
What is an eye-witness testimony
Evidence provided in court by someone who witnessed a crime.
Outline Loftus and Palmer’s first study
45 ppt saw a clip of a car crash, before separating into 5 groups of 9 and asked a question about how fast the cars were moving, with one ‘critical’ word changing.
What critical words changed in Loftus and Palmer
Smashed, Collided, Bumped, Hit, Contacted
Results of Loftus and Palmer
When ‘smashed’ was used, ppts estimates 40.8mph, compared to 31.8mph when contacted was used.
What does Loftus and Palmer’s study suggest
Memory is unreliable as it’s accuracy is easily effected by the phrasing of questions.
What are the two explanations for Loftus and Palmer’s study
Response bias
Memory is altered
Outline Loftus and Palmer’s second experiment
150 ppt in 3 groups: Smashed, Hit and a control. They were asked if they saw glass.
Results of Loftus and Palmer’s second study
Smashed group: 32% said yes
Hit group: 14%
