Eyewitness Testimony Flashcards

(8 cards)

1
Q

What is eyewitness testimony (EWT)?

A

The evidence given in court/police investigation by someone who has witnessed a crime or accident

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2
Q

What are the factors affecting EWT?

A
  • Misleading questions (leading questions and post-event discussion
  • Anxiety
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3
Q

What are leading questions?

A

A question that encourages the answer wanted

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4
Q

Tell me about the study that investigated the effect of leading questions

A

Loftus and Palmer
Aim - to investigate the effect of leading questions on EWT

Method - Sample consisted of 45 American students divided into 5 groups of 9. Everyone watched a video of a car crash and were then asked a specific question about the speed of the cars but the verb was manipulated e.g: ‘how fast were the cars going when they bumped/collided/smashed/contacted with each other’

Results - The verb used affected the speed given of the cars. Participants given the verb ‘smashed’ reported a speed of approximately 40mph and those given the verb ‘contacted’ reported a speed of approximately 31mph.

Conclusion - Leading questions can distort EWT

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5
Q

Evaluate Loftus and Palmer

A
  • Questionable ecological validity, although car crashes are real life events, the participants saw the entire event unfold in the video from start to finish whereas people in real life may only see a small part of it. Since there is a stronger emotional connection to the event we cannot conclude if misleading questions would have the same effect
  • Highly controlled took place in a lab in a uni slay
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6
Q

Tell me about the study that investigated the effect of post-event discussion

A

Gabbert et al
Aim - To investigate the effect of post-event discussion on the accuracy of EWT

Method - 120 people took part (60 uni students + 60 older adults from local community). Everyone watched a video of a girl stealing a wallet. They were split into 2 groups:
1. Control group
- They watched the video alone and then answered the questions
2. Co-witness group
- They watched the videos in pairs but each person from the pair saw a different version of the video (from a different angle). Only one person actually saw the girl steal, they were told they had watched the same video. They were allowed to discuss before answering the questions.
Everyone filled out a memory questionnaire about the event.

Results - In the co-witness group 70% of people remembered things they didn’t actually see (things that came from the other persons video). 60% of participants said the girl was guilty even if they hadn’t seen her commit the crime.

Conclusion - Post-event discussion distorts EWT

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7
Q

Evaluate Gabbert et al

A
  • Good population validity, she investigated 2 different populations and found little difference between them suggesting that it can be generalised to older and younger people
  • We are unable to conclude why the distortion of information and memory occurs in the first place. It could be due to poor memory when people process new information or pressure to conform + fit in.
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8
Q

Tell me about the study that investigated the effect anxiety

A

Loftus
Aim - To see if anxiety effects EWT by examining the weapon focus effect

Method - Participants were unknowingly placed into one of two conditions
1. No-weapon condition
- They overheard a calm conversation in a nearby room and then a man walked out holding a pen with grease on his hands
2. Weapon condition
- They overheard a violent argument, breaking glass and loud crashing. A man runs out holding a blood-covered knife
After this, both groups were shown pictures of 50 people to identify the man.

Results - No-weapon condition correctly identified the man 49% of the time, weapon group only got it right 33% of the time.

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