6. Misleading Info - Factors affecting the accuracy of EWT

• What is misleading information?

  • Incorrect information given to an eyewitness following an event
  • Can be during a post event discussion or in the form of leading questions
• What is a leading question?


  A question which suggests a certain answer due to the way it's phrased
• What is a post event discussion?


  • Occurs when there's more than one witness to an event
  • Witness may discuss what they have seen with co-witnesses or other people
  • May influence the accuracy of each witnesses' recall of the event
• Who carried out research into leading questions?

  Loftus and Palmer
• Describe Loftus and Palmer's research into leading questions


  • 45 students divided into a group of 9
  • Watched a video of a car crash, answered a questionnaire and were asked about a question about the speed
  • Loftus and Palmer manipulated the verb and found the estimated speed was affected by the verb used
  • Shows a word can affect accuracy of judgements
  • Smashed = 40mph
  • Contacted = 30mph
• Describe Loftus and Palmer's research into leading questions - later memory 


  • 150 students divided into 3 groups
  • Watched a one minute video of a car crash and completed a questionnaire
  • One group = "How fast were the cars going when smashed into each other?"
  • Another group = "How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?"
  • Week later - asked if they saw broken glass
  • 16/34 in smashed group said yes
  • Memory of original event was distorted, demonstrating power of leading questions
• Explanations of how leading questions impact EWT 


  • Response Bias Explanation: Wording of the question has no real impact on the participants' memories, it influences how they answer. Leading question like "smashed" encourages them to choose a higher speed estimate
  • Substitution Explanation: Wording of the question changes participant's memory. Demonstrated in Loftus and Palmer's second experiment, where participants had their memory altered depending on the word heard in the original question
• Who carried out research into Post Event Discussion

  Gabbert et al
• Describe Gabbert's research into the effect Post Event Discussion on the accuracy of EWT


  • 60 students from the University of Aberdeen and 60 older adults recruited from a local community participated
  • Watched a video of a girl stealing money from a wallet (filmed from different points)
  • Participants tested individually or in pairs
  • Co-witness group - Told they watched the same video (saw different perspectives) and discussed the crime together
  • All completed a questionnaire, testing their memory of the crime
  • 71% of co-witness group recalled info they had not seen
• Evaluation of Loftus and Palmer and Gabbert et al's research 


  • Lacked mundane realism
  • Lacked population validity (limitation of L+P, Strength of Gabbert)
  • Had a great deal of control
• Evaluation of misleading information


  • Practical applications - cognitive interview
  • Research into misleading information uses artificial tasks
  • Although research into misleading information shows it has an impact on the accuracy of EWT, it may not be true in the real world