Misleading information

• Types of misleading information – leading questions and post event discussion Misleading information is a factor that can effect the accuracy of EWT including leading questions and post event discussion
• LEADING QUESTIONS: are questions that imply a particular answer in the way they are worded . In EWT leading questions can affect memory and the accuracy of a person’s EWT. Leading questions are a form of misleading information as they prompt the eyewitness to answer the questions incorrectly. Leading questions may result in response bias Where the eyewitness answers a question in a way that they think they should answer The substitution explanation proposes that a leading question changes a person’s memory of an event by adding detail that was not present at the time of them witnessing the event e.g. broken glass at the scene of a car crash
• Loftus & Palmer (1974) investigated the effect of leading questions on eyewitness recall Procedure They used a sample of 45 participants split into 5 groups and were shown a video of a car accident and then were asked a question of how fast the car was travelling when they hit, bumped, contacted, collided, smashed each group was given a different critical verb Findings They found that the mean speed estimated for the group that had the verb contacted was 31.8mph and the verb smashed was 40.5mph this demonstrates how leading questions can cause bias in witnesses recall of events.
• The response bias explanation suggests that the wording of the question does not affect the participants memory but the way they answer the question. This was demonstrated when the participants when the participants that got the leading question smashed this encouraged them to choose a higher speed estimate. Substitutional bias suggests that the wording of leading questions lead to change the participants memory of the film clip. This was shown when participants who had originally heard smash were later more likely to report seeing broken glass even when there wasn’t any the critical verb had altered their memory.
• Post event discussion – this is where other witnesses discuss detail of a crime with others after an incident Post event discussion affects the recall of EWT because when co witnesses discuss a crime they discuss misinformation from other witnesses with their own memories causing memory contamination or because witnesses go along with others to win social approval or because they believe other witnesses are right leading to memory conformity.
• GABBERT ET AL Gabbert et al investigated the effect Of post event discussion on the accuracy of eye witness testimony. Method- She used a sample of 60 students from university of Aberdeen and 60 older adults recruited from a local community. They were shown a video clip of a crime scene from different angles. The control group watched the video and did not discuss what they saw. The co-witness group watched the video and discussed what they saw Findings They found that 71% of witnesses in the co witness group had recalled information they hadn’t seen but picked up information from discussions. In the control group 0% included unique information and recalled accurately Therefore post event discussion can have a powerful impact on accuracy of ewt.
• One explanation for why post event discussion may affect EWT is memory conformity. Where witnesses go along with each other for social approval because they believe others are right and fabricate their memories. Another explanation is memory contamination where witnesses discuss the event with each other their EWT becomes altered because they combine misinformation from other witnesses with their own memories.