CPSY 300 MIDTERM questions with
complete solutions
Recall memory - correct answer ✔✔Reporting details of a previously witnessed event or person
(e.g. what they did and what they looked like)
Recognition memory - correct answer ✔✔Determining whether a previously seen item or
person is the same as what is currently being viewed
Estimator variables - correct answer ✔✔Variables that are present at the time of the crime and
that cannot be changed (e.g. age, lighting)
System variables - correct answer ✔✔Variables that can be manipulated to increase (or
decrease) eyewitness accuracy (e.g. lineup, interview procedure)
Open-ended recall - correct answer ✔✔Witnesses are asked to either write or orally state all
they remember about the event without the officer (or experimenter) asking questions. also
known as free narrative
Free narrative - correct answer ✔✔Witnesses are asked to either write or orally state all they
remember about the event without the officer (or experimenter) asking questions. Also known
as open-ended recall (e.g. describe perpetrator)
Direct question recall - correct answer ✔✔Witnesses are asked a series of specific questions
about the crime or the perpetrator (e.g. colour of getaway car)
A witness's recognition response to a lineup can be examined using the following: - correct
answer ✔✔Accuracy of decisions; types of errors made
,Memory conformity - correct answer ✔✔When what one witness reports influences what
another witness reports
Fisher et al (1989) - correct answer ✔✔1. Police interrupted accounts
2. Short, specific questions
3. Predetermined, random order (inconsistent)
4. Leading or suggestive questions
Misinformation effect - correct answer ✔✔Phenomenon where a witness who is presented with
inaccurate information after an event will incorporate that misinformation into a subsequent
recall task. Also known as the post-event information effect
Post-event information effect - correct answer ✔✔Phenomenon where a witness who is
presented with inaccurate information after an event will incorporate that misinformation into a
subsequent recall task. Also known as the misinformation effect
Loftus (1975) - correct answer ✔✔How a question is worded can influence an eyewitness's
recall at a later date
Misinformation acceptance hypothesis - correct answer ✔✔Explanation for the misinformation
effect where the incorrect information is provided because the witness guesses what the officer
or experimenter wants the response to be
, Source misattribution hypothesis - correct answer ✔✔Explanation for the misinformation effect
where the witness has two memories, the original and the misinformation; however, the
witness cannot remember where each memory originated or the source of each
Memory impairment hypothesis - correct answer ✔✔Explanation for the misinformation effect
where the original memory is replaced with the new, incorrect, information
Kebell and Wagstaff hypnosis techniques (1998) - correct answer ✔✔1. Age regression
2. Television technique
Cognitive interview - correct answer ✔✔Based on the principles of memory storage and
retrieval
The cognitive interview is based on four memory-retrieval techniques to increase recall: -
correct answer ✔✔1. Reinstating context
2. Reporting everything
3. Reversing order
4. Changing perspective
Enhanced cognitive interview - correct answer ✔✔Interview procedure that includes various
principles of social dynamics in addition to the memory retrieval principles used in the original
cognitive interview
The additional components of the enhanced cognitive interview are: - correct answer ✔✔1.
Rapport building
complete solutions
Recall memory - correct answer ✔✔Reporting details of a previously witnessed event or person
(e.g. what they did and what they looked like)
Recognition memory - correct answer ✔✔Determining whether a previously seen item or
person is the same as what is currently being viewed
Estimator variables - correct answer ✔✔Variables that are present at the time of the crime and
that cannot be changed (e.g. age, lighting)
System variables - correct answer ✔✔Variables that can be manipulated to increase (or
decrease) eyewitness accuracy (e.g. lineup, interview procedure)
Open-ended recall - correct answer ✔✔Witnesses are asked to either write or orally state all
they remember about the event without the officer (or experimenter) asking questions. also
known as free narrative
Free narrative - correct answer ✔✔Witnesses are asked to either write or orally state all they
remember about the event without the officer (or experimenter) asking questions. Also known
as open-ended recall (e.g. describe perpetrator)
Direct question recall - correct answer ✔✔Witnesses are asked a series of specific questions
about the crime or the perpetrator (e.g. colour of getaway car)
A witness's recognition response to a lineup can be examined using the following: - correct
answer ✔✔Accuracy of decisions; types of errors made
,Memory conformity - correct answer ✔✔When what one witness reports influences what
another witness reports
Fisher et al (1989) - correct answer ✔✔1. Police interrupted accounts
2. Short, specific questions
3. Predetermined, random order (inconsistent)
4. Leading or suggestive questions
Misinformation effect - correct answer ✔✔Phenomenon where a witness who is presented with
inaccurate information after an event will incorporate that misinformation into a subsequent
recall task. Also known as the post-event information effect
Post-event information effect - correct answer ✔✔Phenomenon where a witness who is
presented with inaccurate information after an event will incorporate that misinformation into a
subsequent recall task. Also known as the misinformation effect
Loftus (1975) - correct answer ✔✔How a question is worded can influence an eyewitness's
recall at a later date
Misinformation acceptance hypothesis - correct answer ✔✔Explanation for the misinformation
effect where the incorrect information is provided because the witness guesses what the officer
or experimenter wants the response to be
, Source misattribution hypothesis - correct answer ✔✔Explanation for the misinformation effect
where the witness has two memories, the original and the misinformation; however, the
witness cannot remember where each memory originated or the source of each
Memory impairment hypothesis - correct answer ✔✔Explanation for the misinformation effect
where the original memory is replaced with the new, incorrect, information
Kebell and Wagstaff hypnosis techniques (1998) - correct answer ✔✔1. Age regression
2. Television technique
Cognitive interview - correct answer ✔✔Based on the principles of memory storage and
retrieval
The cognitive interview is based on four memory-retrieval techniques to increase recall: -
correct answer ✔✔1. Reinstating context
2. Reporting everything
3. Reversing order
4. Changing perspective
Enhanced cognitive interview - correct answer ✔✔Interview procedure that includes various
principles of social dynamics in addition to the memory retrieval principles used in the original
cognitive interview
The additional components of the enhanced cognitive interview are: - correct answer ✔✔1.
Rapport building
