Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony-
misleading information – Pages 58 - 59
Key Terms
Eyewitness testimony (EWT)- The ability of people to remember the details of
events, such as accidents and crimes, which they themselves have observed.
Accuracy of EWT can be affected by factors such as misleading information,
leading questions and anxiety.
Misleading information- Incorrect information given to the eyewitness usually
after the event. It can take many forms, such as leading questions and post-
event discussion between co-witnesses and/or other people.
Leading questions- A question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggests
a certain answer. For example; “was the knife in their left hand?”. This suggests
the answer is left hand.
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. This may influence the accuracy of each witnesses recall of the event.
Leading questions
Procedure
- Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer arranged for participants (students) to
watch film clips of car accidents and gave them questions about it.
- In the critical question (leading question) participants were asked to
describe how fast the cars were travelling.
→ “About how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?”
→ This is a leading question because the verb hit suggests the speed
the car was going.
- There were five groups of participants.
→ Each group was given different verbs in the critical question.
→ One group had the word hit and the others had contacted, bumped,
collided, smashed.
Findings
- The mean estimated speed was calculated for each participant group.
→ The verb contacted resulted in a mean estimated speed of about 32
mph.
→ The verb smashed the mean was about 41 mph.
→ The leading question biased the eyewitness recall of an event.
Post-event discussion
Procedure
- Fiona Gabbert studied participants in pairs.
- Each participant watched a video of the same crime, but filmed from
different points of view.
misleading information – Pages 58 - 59
Key Terms
Eyewitness testimony (EWT)- The ability of people to remember the details of
events, such as accidents and crimes, which they themselves have observed.
Accuracy of EWT can be affected by factors such as misleading information,
leading questions and anxiety.
Misleading information- Incorrect information given to the eyewitness usually
after the event. It can take many forms, such as leading questions and post-
event discussion between co-witnesses and/or other people.
Leading questions- A question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggests
a certain answer. For example; “was the knife in their left hand?”. This suggests
the answer is left hand.
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. This may influence the accuracy of each witnesses recall of the event.
Leading questions
Procedure
- Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer arranged for participants (students) to
watch film clips of car accidents and gave them questions about it.
- In the critical question (leading question) participants were asked to
describe how fast the cars were travelling.
→ “About how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?”
→ This is a leading question because the verb hit suggests the speed
the car was going.
- There were five groups of participants.
→ Each group was given different verbs in the critical question.
→ One group had the word hit and the others had contacted, bumped,
collided, smashed.
Findings
- The mean estimated speed was calculated for each participant group.
→ The verb contacted resulted in a mean estimated speed of about 32
mph.
→ The verb smashed the mean was about 41 mph.
→ The leading question biased the eyewitness recall of an event.
Post-event discussion
Procedure
- Fiona Gabbert studied participants in pairs.
- Each participant watched a video of the same crime, but filmed from
different points of view.
