aqa a level eye witness testimony Exam Questions & Answers

define eye witness testimony - ANSWER -the ability of people to remember the details of events such as crimes define misleading information - ANSWER -incorrect information given to an eye witness usually after an event. Can be leading questions or post event discussion define leading question - ANSWER -A question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer. define post event discussion - ANSWER -occurs when there is more than one witness to an event, witnesses may discuss what they have seen which can influence the accuracy of recall define anxiety - ANSWER -a state if mental and physical arousal, the emotions include having worried thought and feeling tension what factors affect eye witness testimony - ANSWER -leading questions, post event discussion, anxiety, reconstructive memory and weapon focus what was the aim of Loftus and Palmers first experiment - ANSWER -to see if leading questions affect the accuracy of recall what happened in Loftus and Palmers first experiment - ANSWER -ppts watched films of car accidents and were asked how fast they wee travelling with different verbs, smashed, hit, collided ect, what were the results of Loftus and Palmers first experiment - ANSWER -Those who heard smashed averaged a 40.5mph speed and those who heard contacted averaged a 31.8mph speed what was the aim of Loftus and Palmers seconds experiment - ANSWER -to see if memory was altered by post event information what happened in Loftus and Palmers seconds experiment - ANSWER -Ppts were divided into 3 groups and were shown a video of a car crash. Group 1 was given the verb smashed, group 2 hit, and group 3 were not given a question about the speed of the vehicles. 10 weeks later they were asked 'did you see any broken glass', there was no broken glass in the film