Eye Witness testimony

?
What does the accuracy of EWT depend on?
factors exsisting before an event such as attribution bias
1 of 61
particularly the what?
fundamental attribution error
2 of 61
What do EWs tend to use?
pre-exsisting internal attricbution rather than external or situational attribution
3 of 61
For example?
a witness might assume that a person setting the alarm off when leaving a shop had stolen something
4 of 61
rather than?
the security tag having been left on- due to an exsisting FAE
5 of 61
What does this mean?
the accuracy of EWT is already negitively affected by attricbution bias
6 of 61
Where does support of the idea that the accuracy of EWT is negatively affected by the FAE?
Barjonet
7 of 61
What did he find?
people tended to believe that car accidents were caused by bad driving
8 of 61
Which is?
An internal attribute
9 of 61
rather than what?
external or situational facotrs such as whether the road was icy
10 of 61
What does this suggest?
FAE is a facotr which negatively affects the accuracy of EWT - which exsists prior to an event
11 of 61
What has been found out about FAEs?
They occur more commonly in western societies rather than non-western societies
12 of 61
AS suggested by whom?
Miller
13 of 61
Therefore?
the FAE is weakened, as a factor affecting the accuracy of EWT, as it is culturally biased
14 of 61
What is the accuracy of EWT depend on?
factors occuring durin the event itself, such as context memory.
15 of 61
What happens when people form memories?
they tend to recall things most accurately when they are able to put themselves back into the original context in which the memory was formed.
16 of 61
What do the police use?
Cognitive interview
17 of 61
What is the first step?
reinstating the metal context of the original memory
18 of 61
What is the second memory?
free recalling as much detail as possible(often with eyes shut)
19 of 61
Wha is the third step?
recalling things in different orders, eg, in reverse.
20 of 61
What is the 4th step?
changing the viewpoint(describing another person's viewpoint of the event.
21 of 61
What does this suggests?
EWT is most accurate when this CI technique is used, and it was used to good effect in the case of kidnapping of estate agent Stephanie Slater.
22 of 61
What is the support for the idea that the accuray of EWT is improved by context memory?
It comes from SMith
23 of 61
What did he say?
In an independent design experiment he asked all pps to learn 80 words in an distinctive room
24 of 61
What were pps then asked to do?
recall the words in a very different type of room recalled fewer words than pps who recalled the words in the original room (control)
25 of 61
However what were pps in a third group asked to do?
recall in the different room after describing the original room
26 of 61
What was found?
recalled the same number of words as the control group
27 of 61
What does this suggest?
accuracy of EWT is increased by recalling information in the same context as the event itself
28 of 61
What is the accuracy of EWT depend on?
factor arising after an event such as reconstructive memory
29 of 61
What isnt memory like?
a video recorder
30 of 61
What is it?
selective and reconstructive
31 of 61
What was there research into?
leading questions
32 of 61
What do they show?
EQT can be influenced after an event
33 of 61
for example?
Loftus and Palmer showed that how a question is worded post event (how fast were te cars going when they smahsed/hit?)
34 of 61
can have what?
effect on recall much later
35 of 61
What were the group asked?
did you see any broken glass?
36 of 61
What was founf?
the smashed group were twice more likely to see broken glass, though there wasnt any than the hit group
37 of 61
Why?
This is because we hold schemas of concepts which help us make sense of the world
38 of 61
What can these schemas do?
reconstruct memories of an earlier event, thus negatively affecting the accuracy of EWT
39 of 61
Where does support come from?
Carmichael
40 of 61
What did he show?
pps recall of drawing is reconstructed and altered after the initial viewing, depending on the label or schema originally attached to that drawing
41 of 61
eg?
diamond or curtains
42 of 61
What does Bartlett suggest?
War of the ghosts research supports the idea of reconstructive memory negatively affecting the accuracy of recall
43 of 61
What does this suggest?
schemas could affect the accuracy of EWT of a crime scene
44 of 61
In terms of methology what is this research into factors affecting the accuracy of EWT after the event?
is strong
45 of 61
Why?
It is high on reliabilty
46 of 61
This is because?
studies were done under controlled lab conditions where the effect f an iv, such as a leading question on a DV such as EWT
47 of 61
Can be what?
Quantitatively measured and compared
48 of 61
What is one weakenss of this research?
low on external validity
49 of 61
why?
as much of the research has been done under lab artifical conditions
50 of 61
what might not the findings be?
might not apply in the real world
51 of 61
For example?
yuille and Cutshall interviewed 13 people who had witnessed a real armed robery in Canada
52 of 61
What did they find?
long after the event they were not influence by post event information and leading questions
53 of 61
What does this contradict?
Loftus' findings
54 of 61
What does this suggest?
EQT relates to real events it is much more accurate and less likely to be reconstructed
55 of 61
What is another weakness of EWT research?
it could be seen as reductionist as there are many other factors before during and after an event, which also affects the accuracy of EWT
56 of 61
For example?
weapon's focus
57 of 61
What does this involve?
witnesses recalling information about a gun or a knife, rather than details such as the face of the criminal
58 of 61
What idd Johnson find?
witnesses were less accurate wehn asked to identify a man carrying a bloody knife
59 of 61
compared to what?
witness asked to identify a man carrying a greasy pen
60 of 61
What does this suggest?
there are dangers in oversimplifying the factors involved in the accuracy of EWT
61 of 61

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

particularly the what?

Back

fundamental attribution error

Card 3

Front

What do EWs tend to use?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

For example?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

rather than?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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