misleading information

• Misleading information


  Information that can affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony
• Leading question


  A question that may lead a witness to give a particular answer
• The leading question biased the eyewitness's recall of an event
• Memory contamination


  When co-witnesses to a crime discuss it with each other, the eyewitness testimonies may become altered or distorted
• Memory conformity


  Witnesses often go along with each other, either to win social approval or because they believe the other witnesses are right and they are wrong
• Post-event discussion (PED)


  Eyewitnesses to a crime may sometimes discuss their experiences and memories with each other
• Procedure (PED)


  1. Participants watched a video of the same crime, but filmed from different points of view

  2. Participants then discussed what they had seen before individually completing a test of recall
• Findings (PED)


  • They found that 71% of the participants mistakenly recalled aspects of the event that they didn’t see in the video but picked up in the discussion.

  •The corresponding figure in a control group, where there was no discussion, was 0%. This was evidence of memory conformity.
• Leading question


  A question that may lead or mislead the respondent to give a certain answer
• Leading questions are a particular issue for eyewitness testimony (EWT) because police questions may direct a witness to give a particular answer
• Why does post-event discussions affect EWT?


  •memory contamination

  •memory conformity
• Leading questions


  Questions that suggest a particular answer, affecting eyewitness testimony (EWT)
• Response-bias explanation


  • The wording of the question has no real effect on the participants' memories, but just influences how they decide to answer
  • When a participant gets a leading question using the word 'smashed', this encourages them to choose a higher speed estimate
• Loftus and Palmer (1974) experiment

  1. Supported the substitution explanation

  2. The wording of a leading question changes the participant's memory of the film clip

  3. Participants who originally heard 'smashed' were later more likely to report seeing broken glass (there was none) than those who heard 'hit'

  4. The critical verb altered their memory of the incident
• Leading questions


  Questions that suggest a particular answer, affecting eyewitness testimony (EWT)
• Response-bias explanation


  • The wording of the question has no real effect on the participants' memories, but just influences how they decide to answer
  • When a participant gets a leading question using the word 'smashed', this encourages them to choose a higher speed estimate
• Loftus and Palmer (1974) experiment

  1. Supported the substitution explanation

  2. The wording of a leading question changes the participant's memory of the film clip

  3. Participants who originally heard 'smashed' were later more likely to report seeing broken glass (there was none) than those who heard 'hit'

  4. The critical verb altered their memory of the incident
• Research on leading questions: Loftus and Palmers Experiment


  1. 45 Participants watched film clips of car accidents
  2. Participants were asked a critical question about the speed of the cars using different verbs (hit, contacted, bumped, collided, smashed)
  3. Mean estimated speed was calculated for each participant group.
  4. verb contacted mean estimated speed of 31.8mph. verb smashed mean of 40.5.
  5. Leading question biased the eyewitnesses recall of an event.
• Strength


  • important practical use in the criminal justice system.

  • The consequence of interact, AWT can be very serious

  • Loftus believes that leading questions can have such distorting effects on memory, that police officers need to be careful how they phrase their questions when interviewing witnesses.

  • this shows that psychologists can help improve the legal system works.
• Limitation 


  • EWT is more accurate for some aspects of an event than for others.

  • Sutherland and Hayne showed participants a video clip.

  • When asked misleading questions, the recall was more accurate for central details than peripheral ones.

  Suggest that original memories for central detail survived