Memory: Factors Affecting Eyewitness Testimonies

Question 1

What is an eyewitness testimony?

Answer 1

referring to account given by witnesses of an event

Question 2

What may an EWT include?

Answer 2

identification of perpetrators and details of crime scene

Question 3

What are EWTs affected by?

Answer 3

misleading information/leading questions, anxiety and the weapon effect

Question 4

Which psychologists examined the effect of language on EWTs?

Answer 4

Loftus and Palmer

Question 5

How did Loftus and Palmer examine the effect of language on EWTs?

Answer 5

-45 american students in 5 groups of 9 -watched video of car crash -asked specific question about speed of car -critical verb changed (smashed, collided, bumped, hit, contacted)

Question 6

What were Loftus and Palmers findings?

Answer 6

smashed: 40.5mph collided: 39.3mph bumped: 38.1 mph hit: 34mph contacted: 31.8mph

Question 7

What did Loftus and Palmer conclude regarding the effect of language?

Answer 7

critical verb gad clear influence over how students responded. smashed produced higher estimates whereas contacted produced the lower estimates. major affect on accuracy of EWTs.

Question 8

What two explanations were suggests by Loftus and Palmer for their findings?

Answer 8

response bias factor and memory representation is altered

Question 9

How does response bias factor explain the findings?

Answer 9

participants simply influenced by connotations of words yet their memory of the event was not false

Question 10

How does memory representation altered explain the findings?

Answer 10

critical verbs change perception of accident. connotations of verbs lead to perceiving the accident as more severe

Question 11

What is a Post Event Discussion?

Answer 11

when witnesses discuss details of a crime or accident following an incident

Question 12

How did Gabbert et al conduct their procedure into Post Event Discussion?

Answer 12

-participants in pairs -watched video of same crime filmed at different perspectives -paired participants discussed before completing individual recall test

Question 13

What did Gabbert et al find?

Answer 13

71% mistakenly recalled aspects of event they did not see, 0% in control group

Question 14

What is anxiety?

Answer 14

emotional and physical arousal, normal in a stressful situation

Question 15

How can anxiety effect accuracy of EWTs?

Answer 15

both a negative and positive impact

Question 16

Which psychologists identified the negative impact of anxiety on EWT accuracy?

Answer 16

Johnson and Scott

Question 17

What method did Johnson and Scott use to determine the negative impact of anxiety on EWT accuracy?

Answer 17

-participants believed to be in lab study -heard heated argument in waiting room
-2 conditions: low anxiety- pen with grease on hands, high anxiety- glass break, paper knife, covered in blood

Question 18

What were Johnson and Scotts findings?

Answer 18

identifying perpetrator from 50 photos: low anxiety- 49% correctly identified, high anxiety- 33% correctly identified. narrowed focus on weapon rather than perpetrator

Question 19

What is the Weapon Effect?

Answer 19

in stressful situations our attention is focused on a singular aspect of the situation (usually the weapon in a crime)

Question 20

Which psychologists showed the anxiety has a positive impact on the accuracy of EWTs?

Answer 20

Yuille and Cutshall

Question 21

How did Yuille and Cutshall discover the positive impact of anxiety on accuracy of EWTs?

Answer 21

-interviewed 13 real-life witnessed to shooting in Vancouver -interviews occurred 4-5 months after -compared to police interviews -stress levels rated with 7 point scale

Question 22

What were the findings of Yuille and Cutshalls study?

Answer 22

those who reported higher levels of stress produced 88% accuracy in recall whereas in low stress levels, 75%

Question 23

What is used to explain the contradictory findings surrounding how anxiety affects the accuracy of EWTs?

Answer 23

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Question 24

What does Yerkes-Dodson law suggest?

Answer 24

boredom: event not stressful enough to acknowledge details
optimal arousal/performance: area in which anxiety is high enough to produce effective recall
deterrent: overstimulation reduces accuracy of recall

Question 25

How is real world application a strength to Factors affecting EWTs?

Answer 25

-important role in criminal justice system -consequence of EWT may be serious
-leading questions significantly distort accuracy of memory -police officers need to be careful in how they phrase questions in interviews -psychologists can behave as expert witness
-psychologists can help improve legal system and protect innocent people

Question 26

What is the substitution explanation?

Answer 26

proposes wording of leading question changes participants memory

Question 27

What is memory conformity explanation?

Answer 27

states witnesses often go along with each to seek social approval

Question 28

How does evidence against the substitution explanation act as a limitation?

Answer 28

-Sutherland and Hayne asked misleading questions in response to a video clip
-recall accurate for central details than peripheral details -participants focused on central features, memories relatively resistant to misleading information -suggests central details remain undistorted which is an unlikely outcome in substitution explanation

Question 29

How is evidence against the memory conformity explanation a limitation?

Answer 29

-believes PED alters EWT -participants reported blend of the different versions they had seen
-Skagerberg and Wright medium brown rather than dark brown/light brown
-memory distortion better explained by contamination

Question 30

What is the memory contamination explanation?

Answer 30

altered/distorted due to combining information from other witnesses in PED

Question 31

How is the weapon effect a limitation to Johnson and Scotts research into anxiety?

Answer 31

-may not have measured intended -weapon focus may be due to surprise than scare
-Pickel explored such with scissors and raw chicken -accuracy significantly low in high unusualness condition -lowers validity as not measuring dependent variable correctly

Question 32

How is supporting evidence into the negative effect of anxiety a strength?

Answer 32

-Mesout and Valentine used heart rate to divide participants into low/high anxiety
-supports weapon focus -anxiety affected recall about details of an actor
-proved ideas of negative high level anxiety on EWT accuracy

Question 33

Why is the Yerkes-Dodson law limiting into the effect of anxiety on EWTs?

Answer 33

-reasonable explanation for contradictory findings -ignored cognitive, behavioural, emotional and physical elements -solely focused on physical, assumed it is only aspect
-reductionist as it simplifies complex human emotion

Question 34

How is research from actual crimes a strength to the positive effect of anxiety on EWTs?

Answer 34

-interviewed 58 witnesses to bank robbery -direct and indirect witnesses -75% accurate across all witnesses -direct victims most accurate -confirms anxiety doesn’t reduce but enhances