AQA A level Psychology - EWT and Cognitive Interview Exam Questions & Answers

Eye witness testimony (EWT) - ANSWER -Ability of people to remember events (e.g. accidents/crimes) that they have observed Affected by misleading information/anxiety Misleading information - ANSWER -Incorrect information given the an eyewitness after an event Includes leading questions/post event discussion Leading questions - ANSWER -Question which suggests a certain answer due to they way it is worded E.g. 'was the knife in his left hand?' suggests left hand Post-event discussion (PED) - ANSWER -Occurs when there is more than one eyewitness May discuss what they have seen with co-witnesses or other people Can influence the accuracy of each witness's recall of the event Factors effecting EWT: misleading information - leading questions (1 - key study) - ANSWER -Loftus & Palmer 91974) 45 students watched film clip of car accidents Answered questions about speed Critical question: about how fast were they going when they ___ each other? 5 groups, 5 verbs: hit, contacted, bumped, collided, smashed Mean estimates Collided: 31.8mph Smashed: 40.5mph Leading question biased recall 'Smashed' suggested faster speed Factors effecting EWT: misleading information - leading questions (2 - response bias explanation) - ANSWER -Wording has no enduring effect on memory Influences kind of answer given Factors effecting EWT: misleading information - leading questions (3 - substitution explanation) - ANSWER -Wording does effect memory Interferes with original memory, distorting accuracy Loftus & Palmer: 2nd experiment Ppts who heard 'smashed' more likely to recall seeing broken glass (there was none) than those who heard 'hit' Factors effecting EWT: misleading information - PED (1 - memory contamination) - ANSWER -Co-witnesses discuss crime: mix (mis)information from others with own memories Factors effecting EWT: misleading information - PED (2 - memory conformity) - ANSWER -Go along with others to win social approval Believe other witnesses are right Factors effecting EWT: misleading information - PED (3 - key study) - ANSWER -Gabbert et al (2003) Paired ppts watched videos of same crime Filmed so each could see elements other could not Both discussed video before individually completing recall test 71% mistakingly recalled aspects they did not see (picked up in PED) Control group: no discussion, no errors Factors effecting EWT: misleading information (real life applications) - ANSWER -Research led to important practical uses for police/investigators (consequences of EWT can be very serious) Loftus: leading questions can have such distorting influence police need to be careful about phrasing interview questions Important difference to lives of real people (improving legal system) Factors effecting EWT: misleading information (Loftus & Palmer - artificial materials) - ANSWER -Watched film clips, very different from witnessing real accidents (less