factors affecting the accuracy of EWT misleading information

• Misleading information


  Incorrect information given to the eyewitness usually after the event. It can take many forms such as leading questions and post event discussion.
• Leading questions


  A question phrased in a way that suggests a particular answer to the witness
• LOFTUS AND PALMER (1974) - LEADING QUESTIONS, EXPERIMENT ONE

  1. Participants were shown 7 clips of different traffic accidents 5-30 seconds long

  2. After each clip, participants were given a questionnaire about the accident

  3. For one clip the participants were asked "about how fast were the cars going before they ***** into each other?" the blank in the sentence changed for each group: smashed, collided, bumped, hit or contacted.
• LOFTUS AND PALMER (1974) - LEADING QUESTIONS, EXPERIMENT TWO

  1. 150 participants were split into 3 groups of 50

  2. Participants watched a one minute film containing a 4 second scene of a multiple car accident

  3. One group heard the word "hit", another "smashed" and the final group were not asked about the speeds of the vehicles.

  4. A week later participants returned and were asked a series of questions about the clip and asked the critical question "did you see any broken glass?" when there was no broken glass
• Strengths of the study

  • High degree of control over variables. Study was in controlled environment of a lab and all potential extraneous variable could be controlled. High internal validity.
  • Have practical applications. Findings may be used to warm the criminal justice system about potential problems with eyewitness evidence. May have helped to avoid inaccurate judgements being made in court.
• Weaknesses of the study

  • Low mundane realism. Study is carried out using artificial stimuli. Results may be different if participants had witnessed a real life crime so findings are not generalisable.
  • Study was artificial. Participants were shown videos of a crash which is not representative of an everyday situation. The participants lack motivation to remember the details.
  • Lacks generalisability. Difficult to apply lab findings to real life. The research lacks external validity.
  • Using students as a sample is unrepresentative. Participants were one type of person who are not representative of the population. Students are above average intelligence. Results can lack population validity as findings cannot be generalised to everyone in society.