Misleading information (factors affecting eyewitness testimony)

Refers to an account given by people of an event they have witnessed. It is evidence given in court, or in police investigations by someone who has witnessed a crime or an accident.

What is eyewitness testimony?

a question that is phrased in a particular way to prompt a certain kind of answer. For example, the question ‘did you see the gun’?

what is a leading question?

Loftus and Palmer

which 2 psychologists conducted research into leading questions affecting eyewitness testimony

1. Students were recruited and played a series of car crashes and then were given questions to answer e.g. colour of the car, the speed to the car which crashed.

2. In the critical question the participants were given a leading question where the key word was changed (hit, bumped, smashed, collided, contracted).

3. The verb smashed= 40mph

   The verb contacted= 32mph 

4. The leading questions biased the eyewitness testimony

Loftus and Palmer’s leading question study

1. What was the procedure?

2. What happened in the critical question?

3. What were the findings?

4. What was concluded?

40mph

what was the speed that the participants estimated that the car was travelling when Loftus and Palmer used the verb ‘smashed’?

32mph

what was the speed that the participants estimated that the car was travelling when Loftus and Palmer used the verb ‘contacted’?

1. The response bias explanation

2. The substitution explanation

what are the 2 explanations into why leading questions affect testimony?

The question has no real effect on the witnesses memory, but just influences how people decide to answer

what is the response-bias explanation of why leading questions affect testimony?

The wording of the question changes the witness’s memories. This was what was concluded by Loftus and Palmer. In a second experiment participants whose question included ‘smashed’ were more likely to report seeing broken glass when it wasn’t there.

what is the substitution explanation of why leading questions affect testimony?

When witnesses are allowed to discuss what they have seen, their stories often become contaminated and they provide false information in their statements.

what is post-event discussion?

Gabbert

which psychologist conducted research into post-event discussion?

1. Participants were studied in pairs but were firstly individually shown a film of the same crime scene but filmed at different angles, therefore affecting what information of the scene they could see.

   They were then allowed to speak to each other before individually answering a test of recall.

Gabbert’s research into post-event discussion

1. What was the procedure?

1. They found that 71% of participants mistakenly recalled information that they hadn’t been exposed to but had picked up on in the discussion.

   The control group mistakenly recalled 0% of the information.

2. Gabbert concluded that witnesses often go along with each other, either to win social approval or because they believe the other witnesses are right or wrong - this is known as memory conformity

Gabbert’s research into post-event discussion (FINDINGS)

1. What were the findings between the different groups?

2. What was concluded?

when witnesses often go along with each other, either to win social approval or because they believe the other witnesses are right or wrong

what is memory conformity?