A03

• A strength is that The research has important real-life applications in the criminal justice system.

  -The Cognitive Interview technique was developed in part to avoid leading questions and reduce the effects of post-event discussion. -Understanding how misleading information affects memory has helped police develop better, more accurate interviewing techniques.-This shows that research into misleading information is not only valid but also useful in improving the legal system.
• A weakness is that much of the research is that it involves artificial tasks and settings.

  -In studies like Loftus and Palmer’s, participants watched videos of a car crash rather than witnessing a real one.-Watching a video doesn’t create the same emotional impact or stress as seeing a real accident, so the findings may lack ecological validity.-This means we should be cautious about applying lab results to real-world eyewitness testimony.
• Another limitation is that individual factors like age can affect the impact of misleading information.

  -Research shows that older people are more susceptible to misleading questions than younger people (e.g., Anastasi & Rhodes, 2006).-This suggests that misleading information doesn’t affect all eyewitnesses equally. Other factors, such as age, confidence, or stress, may play a role.-Therefore, misleading information is not the only factor affecting EWT accuracy, and the theory may oversimplify a complex issue.
• A strength is that Two different populations were investigated as part of the study by Gabbert et al.,

  -students and older adults, which gives the study high population validity

  -This suggests that PED affects people in all populations in a similar way

  -The research performed by Gabbert et al. was a lab study

  -Lab studies are easy to replicate; this means there is high reliability to the findings of the investigation
• A weakness is that Gabbert et al. could not explain why the effects of PED occurred so the memory distortion could be due to

  -pressure to conform to other eyewitnesses

  -poor memory, where people build new information into their memory of the event and are unable to distinguish between what they have seen and what they have heard