Eyewitness Testimony: Misleading Information

Question 1

What is eyewitness testimony

Answer 1

The ability to remember details of events such as accidents and crimes, which they themselves have observed

Question 2

What factors effect the accuracy of EWT

Answer 2

-Misleading information
-Anxiety

Question 3

What other word is used for eyewitness testimony

Answer 3

Eyewitness memory

Question 4

What are the three stages of eyewitness memory

Answer 4

-Encoding
-Retain
-Retrieve

Question 5

Describe Loftus and Palmer’s study (1974) on the impact of leading questions on EWT

Answer 5

Experiment 1:

45 participants watched short clips of car accidents.They were then asked to estimate the speed of the cars, but the verb used in the critical question varied: “How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?” or replaced with “smashed,” “collided,” “bumped,” or “contacted.”

Experiment 2:

-150 students were shown a short video clip of a car accident. After watching the clip, participants were divided into three groups and asked different questions.One group was asked: “About how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?”
Another group was asked the same question but with the verb “hit” instead of “smashed.”
A control group was not asked about speed.

A week later, participants returned and were asked: “Did you see any broken glass?” (There was no broken glass in the video).

Question 6

Conclusion of Loftus and Palmers study (1974) on leading questions

Answer 6

-Loftus and Palmer concluded that memory is reconstructive and can be influenced by misleading information, such as leading questions. The wording of a question can distort recall, making eyewitness testimony often unreliable.

-This study highlights the risk of using leading questions in police interviews and courtrooms, as they can create false memories and distort eyewitness testimony.

Question 7

What is the independent variable in Loftus and Palmers study

Answer 7

-The verb used to describe the car crash E.G collided,constructed, hit, bumped,smashed

Question 8

What is the dependent variable in Loftus and Palmer’s study

Answer 8

-Experiment 1: estimated speed of the vehicle

-Experiment 2: Whether participants falsely recalled seeing broken glass (yes/no)

Question 9

What experimental design is used in Lofts and Palmer’s study

Answer 9

Independent groups design

Question 10

What is a leading question

Answer 10

-A question that suggests a certain answer due to the way that it has been phrased E.g ‘Was the knife in his left hand?’ This implies where the knife was

Question 11

Why do leading questions affects EWT according to loftus and palmer (1974)

Answer 11

-Response bias explanation
-Substitution explanation

Question 12

What is the Response bias explanation (misleading questions)

Answer 12

The wording of the question may influence how participants respond, without actually changing their memory.

Question 13

Example of the response bias explanation

Answer 13

For example, the word “smashed” may lead someone to estimate a higher speed simply because it sounds more severe.

Question 14

What is the substitution explanation

Answer 14

The misleading question actually alters the participant’s memory of the event.

This is supported by the finding that participants who heard “smashed” were more likely to recall non-existent broken glass, suggesting that new information can distort stored memories.

Question 15

Example of the substitution explanation

Answer 15

In Loftus and Palmer’s study, those who heard “smashed” were more likely to falsely recall broken glass, suggesting their memory was altered by the wording of the question.

Question 16

What study did Gabbert et al (2003) conduct

Answer 16

-Conducted a study on post-event discussion to investigate how discussing an event with others can distort eyewitness memory..

Question 17

Method of Gabbert et al (2003) study on post event discussion

Answer 17

-Participants were placed in pairs and shown a video of the same crime but from different perspectives.
-This meant that each participant saw elements of the crime that the other did not.
-After watching the video, pairs were encouraged to discuss what they had seen before individually completing a recall test about the event.

Question 18

Conclusion of Gabbert et a study on post event discussion

Answer 18

-Post-event discussion can lead to memory conformity, where individuals incorporate information from others into their own memory, even if it is incorrect. This demonstrates the unreliability of eyewitness testimony.

-This study supports the idea that memory is reconstructive and influenced by social interactions, which has important implications for police interviews and legal proceedings.

Question 19

Why does post event information/ discussion effect EWT

Answer 19

-Memory contamination- When co witnesses discuss a crime, they mix(mis) information from other witnesses with their own memories

-Memory conformity- Witnesses go along with each other to win social approval or because they believe the other witnesses are right

Question 20

What is memory contamination

Answer 20

When co witnesses discuss a crime, they mix(mis) information from other witnesses with their own memories

Question 21

What is memory conformity

Answer 21

Witnesses go along with each other to win social approval or because they believe the other witnesses are right

Question 22

Evaluation of the effect of misleading information on EWT

Answer 22

-Real world applications in the criminal justice system

-Evidence challenging the substitution explanation
-Evidence does not support memory conformity

Question 23

How can this knowledge of how PED and leading questions affect EWT be used and applied in the criminal justice system

Answer 23

-Inaccurate EWT can cause wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice
-Police officers, juries, and others must understand how misleading info distorts EWT
-Research on post-event discussion & leading questions led to the Cognitive Interview (CI)-CI improves recall accuracy by:Encouraging open-ended questions, Avoiding leading/suggestive questions, Reinstating event context.
-Applying CI reduces errors from unreliable EWT, Helping decrease wrongful convictions in the criminal justice system

Question 24

Who conducted research that challenges the substitution explanation

Answer 24

Sutherland and Hayne (2001)

Question 25

Who conducted research that challenges the substitution explanation

Answer 25

Sutherland and Hayne (2001)

Question 27

What did Sutherland and Hayne find in their study

Answer 27

-participants were better at recalling central details of an event than peripheral ones, even when exposed to misleading questions. -This indicates that the original memory, especially of important information, can remain intact and resistant to distortion. -suggests that misleading information does not always overwrite original memories but may be stored separately, leading to source confusion rather than substitution. -Therefore, the substitution explanation may be too simplistic to fully explain how misleading information affects eyewitness memory.

Question 28

What did Skagerberg and Wright (2008) find in their study on memory conformity

Answer 28

-Conducted a study on memory conformity, investigating how post-event discussion influences the accuracy of eyewitness memory. -Participants were shown two different versions of the same crime scene video, each containing subtle differences (e.g., in one version, a perpetrator’s jacket was light brown, while in the other, it was dark brown). After watching the videos, participants were encouraged to discuss what they had seen with someone who had viewed the other version. They were then asked to recall details of the event individually. Findings: -Instead of simply adopting the memory of the other participant, many blended details from both versions. For example, instead of recalling either a light brown or dark brown jacket, some participants reported a “medium brown” jacket, showing that memory was not entirely replaced but altered.

Question 29

Why may encoding of eyewitness memory only be partial or distorted

Answer 29

Encoding may only be partial and distorted, particularly as most crimes happen very quickly, frequently at night and sometimes accompanied by rapid complex and often violent action.

Question 30

Findings of lotus and palmers studies

Answer 30

Experiment 1: When more intense verbs were used in leading questions, such as smashed, participants were more likely to estimate a higher speed than for when less intense verbs such as ‘contacted’ were used. For example, the mean estimated speed for the verb smashed was 40.5mph while for contacted it was 31.8mph. Experiment 2: Participants who heard the word “smashed” estimated a higher speed than those who heard “hit.”Furthermore, more participants in the “smashed” group (32%) falsely remembered seeing broken glass, compared to 14% in the “hit” group and 12% in the control group.

Question 31

Conclusion of Skagerberg and Wrights study on memory conformity

Answer 31

-This suggests that memory itself is distorted through contamination by post event discussion and not the result of memory conformity

Question 32

What is misleading information

Answer 32

-Incorrect information given to an eyewitness, often after an event, which can distort their memory of what happened.

Question 33

What is meant by post event discussion

Answer 33

occurs when witnesses discuss the event with each other after it has happened

Question 34

Findings of Gabbert et al (2003) study

Answer 34

Findings -71% mistakenly recalled aspects of the event they had not actually seen but had picked up from their discussion with their partner. -In a control group (where no discussion took place), 0% mistakenly recalled unseen details. -60% who had not seen the crime taking place (because it was out of their camera’s view) still reported seeing it after discussing with their partner.