Memory - misleading information

Question 1

what is an eyewitness testimony

Answer 1

• ability of people to remember the details of eventsw

Question 2

what is misleading information

Answer 2

• incorrect information given to an eyewitness after the event

Question 3

what is a leading question

Answer 3

a question that suggests an answer

Question 4

what is post event discussion

Answer 4

• more than one witness to an event
• witnesses discuss what they have seen

Question 5

what is the research into leading questions

Answer 5

Loftus and Palmer (1974)
- 45 participants watched film clips of a car accident
- asked leading questions
- asked how fast the car was going - contacted, bumped, collided, smashed
- contacted had a mean speed of 31.8mph
- smashed had a mean speed of 40.5mph

Question 6

why do leading questions affect eye witness testimony’s

Answer 6

• Loftus and palmer repeated experiement and asked if there was glass present
• verb smashed - more likely to report seeing glass even though there was none

Question 7

what is the research on post-event discussion

Answer 7

Fiona Gabbert et al (2003)
- participants watched a video of the same crime
- each from a different perspective
- each discussed before individually completing a recall test
- 71% mistakenly recalled
- 0% mistakenly recalled in a control group

Question 8

why do post event discussion affect eye witness testimony’s

Answer 8

Memory contamination
- combine misinformation with our own memories

Memory conformity
- agree with others for social support

Question 9

what are the strengths of misleading information

Answer 9

Real world application
- used in the criminal justice system
- used in interviews on witnesses

Loftus (2002)
- asked college students if they saw Ariel and Bugs bunny at Disney
- Ariel wasn’t at Disney at this time
- Bugs bunny isn’t Disney
-proves that leading questions creates false memories

Question 10

what are the limitations of misleading information

Answer 10

Foster et al (1994)
- if participants were watching a real life robbery their recall would be more accurate than a staged one

Skagerberg and Wright (2008)
- showed participants film clips
- each participant saw one of two clips
- often didn’t report what they had seen but a blend of both clips together
- memory is distorted through contamination not conformity