EWT - misleading information - post event discussion

• Gabbert et al paired participants and gave them a film to watch but was given a different viewpoint. they were then told to discuss what they saw. 71% recalled things they did not see, compared to the control group, which was 0%. This shows the effect of post event discussion on EWT.
• strength - ecological validity - participants knew they were taking part in the study but in real life, people would be given less information
• strength - population validity - they used 2 different samples of uni students and older people
• limitation - conformity. it is hard to conclude that if the distorted memory was due to poor memory or because of social influence - conformity
• memory contamination 


  when co-witnesses discuss a crime, they mix (mis)information from other witnesses with their own memories
• memory conformity 


  witnesses go along with each other to win social approval or because they believe the other witnesses are right