Memory psychology Exam Questions
with All Correct Answers 2024-2025
Update
Why is eyewitness testimony unreliable? - Answer- Cause memories are fragile become
easily distorted and are therefore reconstructed
What are the different factors affecting reliability or eyewitness testimony - Answer- 1)
misleading information- leading questions and post -event discussion
2) anxiety
What is misleading information broken down into - Answer- Leading questions
Post even discussions
What is misleading information? - Answer- Incorrect statement given to the eyewitness
which can unintentionally distort the memory of the original crime
What is a leading questions - Answer- Is one that is phrased in. A way which implies a
particular answer
E.g did u see the knife
Uses a Je definitive article (the knife) in questions rather than a knife
This therefore may persuade a witness that a knife was definitely present
Loftus and Plamer (1974) - Answer- Investigates whether leading questions would result
in eyewitness testimony being inaccurate
Lofty and palmer conducted a lab experiment which investigated the effect ls of leading
questions for memory of a car accident
45 participants (students) were shown a film of a car accident and after watching the
film they were put into one of 5 conditions and asked about the speed of. Cars with the
questions
'About how fast we the cards going when they ...each other' which one of the verbs
Smashed Estimated speed 41mph
collided
,Bumped
Hit
Contacted 32mph
Being exposed to leading question after an event has occurred can distort the witnesses
Memory for that event
What is post even discussion - Answer- Refers to wintnesses discussion with each
other about the event after it has occurred
What is source monitoring? - Answer- Witnesses memories become distorted as
confusion can occur over where the information came from originally
What is memory conformity - Answer- Witnesses memories become distorted as they
believe the other eye witnesses to be right and think they're wrong, and do often go
along with each other's accounts to win social approval. This is know as the memory
conformity effect
Gabbert et al 2003 - Answer- Aim
Investigate the effects of post event discussion (PED) on accuracy of eye witness
testimony
Method
Investigated memory conformity effects between pairs of participants who viewed a
simulated crime even on video. Participants were told they were seeing the same
footage however whilst they contained the same sequence of events they were filmed
form different angles which gave two different perspectives.
This meant that each participants could see elements that the other half of the pair
couldn't e.g only one witness could read the title of a book being carried by a woman in
the footage
Participant pairing in the experimental condition were allowed time to discuss what they
had witnessed before completing an individual test of recall. Participant pairings in the
control condition didn't discuss the verbs they simply completed the recall test. The
recall included questions about information some ppts had not seen (title of the book)
Results
17% of pps recalled information they had not seen after post even discussion
(experimental)
, And 0% after non-post even discussion
Conclusion
Being exposed to pose event discussion distorted the witness memory for that even
through the source monitoring effect
Advantage of misleading information as a factor affecting EWT - Answer- The research
is high in reliability
The research uses lab experiments and therefore has standardised procedures for
example
Same video clip. Same length of time same questions asked
This means that the research is replicable. Results have been shown to be consistent,
and we can therefore reliably conclude that misleading information distorts eyewitness
testimony
Second Advantage of misleading information as a factor affecting EWT - Answer- The
research has practical applications
This is because it has been used to warn the justice system of problems with relying on
EWT for example
Research in this area led to the development of the cognitive interview, which is now
widely used by police officers to reduce the negative effects of misleading information
on eyewitnesses by eliminating leading questions and ensuring witnesses are not
allowed to talk to each other
This means the research can be praised since it has been used to improve the justice
system and reduce wrongful convictions
A limitation of misleading information as a factor affecting EWT - Answer- Lab
experiments are low in ecological validity
This is because the situation of watching a video clip of crime is artificial and not the
same as witnessing a crime in real life. For example
watching video clips of crime and accidents in lab setting doesn't elicit the same
emotional arousal as real life E.g less anxiety and importance placed on answering the
questions connecting
This means the finding that misleading information distorts EWT may not be generalised
to real life crime/incidents
with All Correct Answers 2024-2025
Update
Why is eyewitness testimony unreliable? - Answer- Cause memories are fragile become
easily distorted and are therefore reconstructed
What are the different factors affecting reliability or eyewitness testimony - Answer- 1)
misleading information- leading questions and post -event discussion
2) anxiety
What is misleading information broken down into - Answer- Leading questions
Post even discussions
What is misleading information? - Answer- Incorrect statement given to the eyewitness
which can unintentionally distort the memory of the original crime
What is a leading questions - Answer- Is one that is phrased in. A way which implies a
particular answer
E.g did u see the knife
Uses a Je definitive article (the knife) in questions rather than a knife
This therefore may persuade a witness that a knife was definitely present
Loftus and Plamer (1974) - Answer- Investigates whether leading questions would result
in eyewitness testimony being inaccurate
Lofty and palmer conducted a lab experiment which investigated the effect ls of leading
questions for memory of a car accident
45 participants (students) were shown a film of a car accident and after watching the
film they were put into one of 5 conditions and asked about the speed of. Cars with the
questions
'About how fast we the cards going when they ...each other' which one of the verbs
Smashed Estimated speed 41mph
collided
,Bumped
Hit
Contacted 32mph
Being exposed to leading question after an event has occurred can distort the witnesses
Memory for that event
What is post even discussion - Answer- Refers to wintnesses discussion with each
other about the event after it has occurred
What is source monitoring? - Answer- Witnesses memories become distorted as
confusion can occur over where the information came from originally
What is memory conformity - Answer- Witnesses memories become distorted as they
believe the other eye witnesses to be right and think they're wrong, and do often go
along with each other's accounts to win social approval. This is know as the memory
conformity effect
Gabbert et al 2003 - Answer- Aim
Investigate the effects of post event discussion (PED) on accuracy of eye witness
testimony
Method
Investigated memory conformity effects between pairs of participants who viewed a
simulated crime even on video. Participants were told they were seeing the same
footage however whilst they contained the same sequence of events they were filmed
form different angles which gave two different perspectives.
This meant that each participants could see elements that the other half of the pair
couldn't e.g only one witness could read the title of a book being carried by a woman in
the footage
Participant pairing in the experimental condition were allowed time to discuss what they
had witnessed before completing an individual test of recall. Participant pairings in the
control condition didn't discuss the verbs they simply completed the recall test. The
recall included questions about information some ppts had not seen (title of the book)
Results
17% of pps recalled information they had not seen after post even discussion
(experimental)
, And 0% after non-post even discussion
Conclusion
Being exposed to pose event discussion distorted the witness memory for that even
through the source monitoring effect
Advantage of misleading information as a factor affecting EWT - Answer- The research
is high in reliability
The research uses lab experiments and therefore has standardised procedures for
example
Same video clip. Same length of time same questions asked
This means that the research is replicable. Results have been shown to be consistent,
and we can therefore reliably conclude that misleading information distorts eyewitness
testimony
Second Advantage of misleading information as a factor affecting EWT - Answer- The
research has practical applications
This is because it has been used to warn the justice system of problems with relying on
EWT for example
Research in this area led to the development of the cognitive interview, which is now
widely used by police officers to reduce the negative effects of misleading information
on eyewitnesses by eliminating leading questions and ensuring witnesses are not
allowed to talk to each other
This means the research can be praised since it has been used to improve the justice
system and reduce wrongful convictions
A limitation of misleading information as a factor affecting EWT - Answer- Lab
experiments are low in ecological validity
This is because the situation of watching a video clip of crime is artificial and not the
same as witnessing a crime in real life. For example
watching video clips of crime and accidents in lab setting doesn't elicit the same
emotional arousal as real life E.g less anxiety and importance placed on answering the
questions connecting
This means the finding that misleading information distorts EWT may not be generalised
to real life crime/incidents
