Misleading Information

• Gabbert et al - Participants watched a video of the same crime but filmed from different angles. 71% mistakenly recalled aspects that they had seen broken glass that they did not see in the video but had picked up in post-event discussion.
• Response-bias Explanation - the wording of a question has no enduring effect on an eyewitness memory of an event but influences the kind of answer given.
• Substitution explanation - the wording of a question does affect eyewitness memory; it interferes with its original memory, distorting its accuracy.
• + Research has real-life application

  • Loftus and Palmer's stud used artificial materials
  • There could be individual differences in accuracy of EWT
  • Lab studies suffer from demand characteristics
  • EWT lack external validity