A03 MI Factors affecting EWT

• Useful real-life application

  All research into misleading info had hugely important practical uses in the real-world, where consequences of inaccurate EWT were serious
• Loftus


  She believes LQs can have such a distorting effect on memory that police officers need to careful how they phrase their Qs when interviewing EWs
• Positive difference works


  Research into EWT is one area where psychologists think they can make a positive difference to lives of real people improving way the legal system works
• Tasks are superficial

  Ppts in Loftus and Palmer experiment watched film clips of car accidents. This is a very different experience from watching a real life accident; clips lack the stress of a real accident.
• Impact of memory

  There is evidence that emotions have an impact on memory Thus, this tells us little about how LQs affect EWT in cases of real accidents/crimes. Maybe Loftus is too pessimistic and accuracy of EWT may be more reliable
• Individual differences

  There is evidence that older people are less accurate than younger people when giving eyewitness reports. Rhodes and Anastasi found people in age groups 18-25 / 35-45 years were more accurate than people in age groups 55-78 years
• Own age bias

  All age groups were more accurate when identifying people their own age . Research studies often use younger people as target to identify and this may mean that some age groups appear less accurate but this is not true
• Demand characteristics

  Zaragosa and McCloskay found many answers ppts gave in lab studies of EWT are a result of Demand characteristics. Ppts usually do not want to let researcher down and want to appear helpful and attentive so when they don't know, they guess
• Consequences of EWT

  Foster et al pointed out what you remember as an EW can have important consequences in real world but this is not same for research studies