eye witness testimony

• Eyewitness testimony (EWT)

  Testimony given by someone who witnessed an event, often used as key evidence in criminal trials
• Eyewitness testimony has been given huge importance in criminal trials and has often been the key piece of evidence used to convict someone
• Psychological research has revealed that EWT can be unreliable under certain conditions
• Leading questions

  Questions that suggest or lead to a desired response due to the wording of the question
• Leading questions may lead to unreliable EWT being given and, ultimately, an innocent person being convicted
• Response bias

  The eyewitness does not answer the question accurately; they answer in the way that they think they should answer
• Substitution explanation

  A leading question changes a person's memory of an event by adding detail that was not present at the time
• Research into leading questions

  • Loftus and Palmer (1974)
  • Yuille and Cutshall (1986)
• Physiological effects of anxiety

  Increased heart rate, sweating, pupils dilated, an adrenaline surge
• Psychological effects of anxiety

  Heightened emotion such as fear, excitement, shock, distress
• Heightened physiological and psychological state

  Can help or hinder eyewitness testimony
• Positive effect of anxiety on recall

  • Heightened state of physiological arousal (fight or flight response) can enhance EWT
  • Acute attention to detail can boost memory
• Research on positive effect of anxiety on recall

  • Yuille & Cutshall (1986)
• Negative effect of anxiety on recall

  • Heightened state of physiological arousal can impair EWT
  • Focus on shocking detail (weapon focus effect) rather than on details of the criminal
• Research on negative effect of anxiety on recall

  • Loftus et al. (1987)
• Cognitive interview (CI)

  A method of interviewing eyewitnesses to enhance recall and improve the accuracy of their testimony
• Techniques used in the cognitive interview

  • Recall everything
  • Recall the events in reverse order
  • Reinstate the context
  • Change the perspective
• Research support for the cognitive interview

  • Fisher (1999)
  • Milne and Bull (2002)