Memory Bingo! HypothesisIndependent variable Dependent variable Weapon focusDecaySensory store CapacityEncodingPeterson and Peterson LoftusCentral ExecutivePhonological Loop Dual task methodAnxietyLab experiment Misleading information Long Term MemoryEWT

Lab experiment Peterson and Peterson Sensory store Weapon focus Dependent variable Anxiety Central Executive Decay Independent variable Misleading information Hypothesis Dual task method Loftus Long Term Memory Capacity Encoding

Lesson Objectives 1. Review and strengthen your knowledge and understanding of research into Eyewitness testimony. 2. Be able to explain key points of research to other students. 3. Improve skills of evaluation, relevant to research on EWT.

chology_critical_issues/eyewitness_testimony chology_critical_issues/eyewitness_testimony

What factors can affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony? What research can you recall into the above factors?

EWT: Quiz! 1. Which verb in Loftus and Palmer (1974) produced the highest average estimated speed of vehicle?

2. Loftus and Zanni (1975). 7% in Condition ONE and 17% in Condition TWO reported seeing what after watching a video of a car accident?

3. Lab experiments have generally found impaired recall due to anxiety, which is not the case in real life surveys (e.g. Christianson and Hubinette). TRUE OR FALSE

4. In Loftus (1979), the group that were more accurate in identifying ‘the man’, had seen him holding what object when he emerged from the lab?

5. Younger children have been found to be less susceptible to absorbing post event information into their original memory. TRUE OR FALSE?

6a. Yarmey et al. Found that 80% of elderly participants failed to mention a knife in a staged event, as opposed to 20% of younger adults. How did they operationalise ‘elderly’? (In other words, what did they decide counted as ‘elderly’). 6b.BONUS POINT: How did they operationalise ‘younger adult’.

7. What does it mean to operationalise your variables?

8. Lab studies on EWT, such as those by Loftus and colleagues, can be criticised for lacking ecological validity and being vulnerable to unwanted variables, such as demand characteristics. For 2 marks, define ‘demand characteristics’.

Answers 1. ‘Smashed’. 2. A broken headlight. 3. True. 4. A pen 5. False (younger children found to be more susceptible to absorbing post event information). 6. a. Elderly = 70+years old / b. Younger adults = years old. 7. To define exactly what you mean by a variable (e.g. ‘elderly’ or ‘aggression’), so that it can be tested (and your experiment can be replicated).

Answers 8. Demand characteristics. 2 mark example: Participants may pick up cues from the investigator as to what they’re expecting (the hypothesis). They may then respond how they think they should. 1 mark examples:  Participants change the way they behave to help.  People do what they think they should for the experiment.

Additional questions to discuss Younger children and elderly people have generally been found to be more susceptible to post event information and leading questions. Should we just ignore their testimonies?

You are training policemen to interview several witnesses to a violent crime. > What important pieces of advice are you going to give them?