research

• Loftus and Palmer 1974


  • Effect of language on memory
  • Memory is malleable
  • Leading questions lead to the participants memory being changed/ remembering certain aspects that did not occur
• Loftus and Zanni 1974


  • Demonstrated effects of post-event information
  • 7 percent seen one headlight
  • 17 percent seen a headlight
  • Influence recollection - even subtle changes
• Reliable eyewitness details


  • Focuses on details that are tricky to estimate - speed that are not central to the incident
  • More susceptible to change
• Loftus 1979


  • Stealing a red bag
  • Participants were wrong about the aspects that were not as important
  • 98 percent stated that the bag was red
  • Suggests that individuals may remember key details rather than the minute side details
  • Main details are more resistant to corruption
• Freud


  • Memory is repressed due to the ego-defence mechanisms
  • Crime is a traumatic event that may cause the memory to be buried in the unconscious
• Reliable emotive memories

  • Many psychologists believe that events that are emotionally shocking create long lasting and accurate memories
  • Flashbulb memory
  • Cahill and McGaugh 1995 - hormones associated with emotion may enhance memory
• Pozzulo and Lindsay 1998


  • Children under 5 less likely to correctly identify the target individual
  • 5-13 did not differ in target present
  • Did make a decision in target absent
• Reliable child witnesses

  • Davies et al 1989
  • Children between 6-7, 10, 11, are fairly accurate and do not usually make things up
  • Memory for significant details is not significantly altered by adult suggestion
• Anastasi and Rhodes 2006


  • Adult target individual - all age groups are more accurate when recognising an offender of the same age