post event discussions

• Post-event discussion


  -Occurs when there is more than one witness to an event. Witnesses may discuss what they have seen with co-witnesses or with other people. This may influence the accuracy of each witness's recall of the event.
• post-event discussions procedure 


  studied ppts in pairs

  each ppts watched the same video but from a different angle

  each ppts saw something the other ppts did not e.g. one ppt saw title of book in women's hand

  after ppts could discuss what they saw
• post-event discussions findings 


  71% of ppts mistakingly picked up aspects of the situation they did not see after discussing

  corresponding figure for the control group where they had no discussion was 0%
• why do post-event discussions affect EWT?


  memory contamination

  when co-witnesses discuss a crime EWT may become distorted or altered

  may combine misinformation

  
  

  memory conformity

  witnesses go along with each other due to social approval or because they believe the other person is right

  actual memory isn't changed