Eye Witness Testimony - Factors affecting Accuracy PDF

Memory Factors affecting the accuracy of eye witness testimony: Misleading information Key terms Eye Witness Testimony Misleading information Leading Question Post-event Discussion Introduction An ‘eyewitness’ is someone who has seen or witnessed a crime, usually pre...

Memory Factors affecting the accuracy of eye witness testimony: Misleading information Key terms Eye Witness Testimony Misleading information Leading Question Post-event Discussion Introduction An ‘eyewitness’ is someone who has seen or witnessed a crime, usually present at the time of the incident. They use their memory of the crime to give their testimony or a ‘reconstruction’ of what happened. ‘Eyewitness Testimony’ is the evidence provided in court by a person who witnessed a crime, with a view to identifying the perpetrator. Elizabeth Loftus Real life: Ronald Cotton Process of EWT The witness encodes into LTM details of the event. Encoding may only be partial or distorted. Why is this? The witness retains the information for a period of time. Memories may be lost or modified during this time. Why do you think this happens? The witness retrieves the memory from storage. What might affect the recall? Loftus and Palmer (1974) Loftus and Palmer (1974) Leading questions AO3 Loftus and Palmer (1974) Questionable ecological validity – why? Lacks population validity – why? Highly controlled – how and why is this a benefit? Gabbert et al (2003) Post event discussion Would this happen to you? AO3 Gabbert et al (2003) Questionable ecological validity – why? Good population validity – why? Unable to conclude why distortion occurs MSM – AO3 AO3 Real life application Ronald Cotton AO3 Ecological validity Loftus & Palmer AO3 Demand characteristics Loftus & Palmer AO3 Field study Yuille & Cutshall AO3 Individual differences