Factors affecting the accuracy of EWT:Misleading Info

• post event discussion occurs when there is more than one witness to an event. Witnesses may discuss what they have seen with co witnesses or with other people,influency accuracy of details.
• leading questions are a question, which because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer. eg was there a knife in his left hand?
• misleading info is incorrect info given to an eyewitness usually after the event
• eyewitness testimony is the ability of people to remember the details of events, which they themselves have observed. 
• Give limitations of Loftus and Palmer

  lacked mundane realism- participants shown clips rather than viewing an actual event, 

  pps therefore less motivated and less liekly to pay attention to the accuracy of their judgements.

  Rachel Foster- consequences of EWT in lab differ from real life where this is consequences.

  Students used- cannot be generalised.
• Give strengths of Loftus and Palmer

  real world implications-instructed juries that it is not safe to convict on EWT alone.

  lab study- good control over confounding variables( made sure verb condition was only re-evaluating their memories)
• What did Loftus and Palmer conclude from their second experiment?

  the critical verb alters the participants memory of the event.
• What was Loftus and Palmers second experiment?

  proved substition explanation. Participants were called back a week later and were asked the critical question of 'did you see any broken glass?'

  Those in the smashed condition were more likely to say yes( there was none) compared to the 'hit' condition.
• Why do leading questions affect EWT?

  the wording of the question does not impact EWT, but influences how they decide to answer.When pps get the word 'smashed' due to the aggressive conations of the verb, they estimate a higher speed.
• What was Loftus and Palmer's aim?

  to see how leading questions influence eyewitness recalls of an event
• What were Loftus and Palmer's findings?

  those who were in the 'smashed' condition estimated a higher speed in the car crash.(40.5mph)

  This differs from 'contacted' which estimated at 31.8mph.
• What was Loftus and Palmer's procedure?

  45 pps to watch severla film clips of car accidents.After they watched the clips, they were asked questions.

  5 conditions each with a leading question phrased with a different verb including bumped,contatced,collided,smashed,hit

  'how fast were the cars going when they ____ each other?
• Give strengths of misleading information

  -important,practical uses in the criminal justice system.

  -consequences of inaccurate EWT can be very serious.Loftus believes that police should be careful when interrogating, as the phrasing they use in critical questions has the ability to distort memory. 

  -psychologists can help protect innocent people from faulty convictions based on inaccurate EWT.
• Give 2 limitations of misleading info research

  -memory is distorted through contamination rather than distortion-Skagerberg and Wright showed their pps film clips(one guy with dark brown hair and light brown hair) and they blended the two.

  Give 2 limitations of misleading info research

  the substition explanation of EWT means that accuracy depends on the event.

  Sutherland and Hayne further this by finding from a n experiment that once pps were asked questions about a video clip, their recall was more accurate for central details of the event than for the peripheral ones.
• What counterpoint may argue the strengths of eyewitness testimony?

  Loftus and palmer experiment in a lab, a very different experience to real life(less stressful)

  Rachel Foster et al(94)- consequences in studies do not matter, compared to the real world(rsesearch pps less motivated to be accurate)