Misleading information: EWT

Question 1

Who are the key researchers for misleading information for EWT?

Answer 1

Loftus and Palmer

Question 2

What are some consequences of faulty EWT?

Answer 2

• false accusations
• criminals not found
• guilt for witness

Question 3

What does this section focus on?

Answer 3

What people can remember

Question 4

What are the two examples of misleading information?

Answer 4

• leading questions
• post-event discussion

Question 5

How does post-event discussion affect memory?

Answer 5

• memory may be changed or contaminated through discussions with others and/or being questioned multiple times

Question 6

What effect may occur during post event discussion?

Answer 6

conformity effect

Question 7

What is conformity effect?

Answer 7

• Gabbert found that ppts encouraged to discuss an event before the individually recalling were more likely to make errors in their ability to recall
• may reach an agreed idea upon what actually took place

Question 8

What is repeat interviewing?

Answer 8

• comments from the interviewer become incorporated into their own recollection of events
• the interviewer may use leading questions and alter the individuals memory for events

Question 9

What is eyewitness testimony?

Answer 9

Evidence supplied in court by people who witness a specific event/crime, relying on their memory

Question 10

What was experiment 1 of Loftus and Palmer

Answer 10

• investigate how information (leading questions) supplied after an event influences a witness’ memory of that event
• 45 students split into 5 groups from UNI shown 7 clips of different car accidents
• After each film they were asked a number of questions including one crucial question “How fast were the cars going when they— into each other”
• Each group was given a verb to fill in the blank, these verbs were: smashed, bumped, hit and contacted
• Ppts would estimate the speed the car was travelling at

Question 11

Findings of experiment 1

Answer 11

more intense verb the ppts scored a higher speed

Question 12

Conclusions of experiment 1

Answer 12

estimated the speed was affected by the verb used. The verb implied information about the speed which affected the memory of the accident

Question 13

What was experiment 2 of Loftus and Palmer?

Answer 13

• Investigate whether leading questions cause information to be altered after it is stored
• Ppts were split into 3 groups
• All were shown same short film of car accident and as before asked the same questions about speed
• A week later, ppts returned and asked ‘Did you see any broken glass?’ (there was no broken glass)

Question 14

Findings of experiment 2

Answer 14

In the smashed conditions, ppts claimed to see glass in comparison to the ‘hit’ condtion

Question 15

Conclusions of experiment 2

Answer 15

leading questions did change the actual memory a ppt had for an event

Question 16

A03 - Supporting evidence

Answer 16

• for example, Loftus investigated misleading questions
• College students who visited Disneyland as children were asked to evaluate advertising material containing misleading information about bugs bunny (who is not a Disney character) or Ariel (not introduced at time of childhood)
• Ppts assigned to bugs bunny or ariel were more likely to report shaking hands with them than the control group (no misleading information)
• Suggests that misleading information is powerful and can create false memory

Question 17

A03 - Research by Loftus is generally inaccurate, thus unreliable. But also many researchers has said it lacks ecological validity

Answer 17

• Lab experiments may not represent real life because people don’t take the experiment seriously and would not be emotionally stimulated as they would in a real life scenario.
• Foster et al found that if ppts thought they were watching a real-life robbery, and also thought their answer would influence trial, their identification was more accurate
• Yuille and Cutshall found witnesses to an armed robbery gave more accurate reports four months later despite given two misleading questions
• Suggests that misleading information may have less influence on EWT, than Loftus research suggests

Question 18

A03 - Real life applications

Answer 18

• research into EWT is that it has real life applications to the criminal justice system
• Psychological research has been used to warn the justice system of problems with eyewitness identification evidence
• Recent DNA cases have revealed the inaccuracy of eyewitness identification and confirmed research, that it was the largest single factor in contributing to convictions of innocent people
• Therefore, this highlights the importance of EWT research and the influence it has in the justice system and help it become more accurate in convictions