1. PSYA1: Cognitive Psychology Memory
Eye Witness Testimony

2. How might this link to our work on memory?
To Start
Awareness Test
What does this show us?
How might this link to our work on memory?
How many passes do the players in white make?
Awareness Test

3. Whodunnit? We can apply this same idea to a crime scene…
To Start
Whodunnit?
We can apply this same idea to a crime scene…
Whodunnit Awareness

4. Mr. Bean is a victim of crime….
To get you thinking..
Mr. Bean is a victim of crime….
Mr Bean Clip:

5. Mr. Bean is a victim of crime….
To get you thinking..
Mr. Bean is a victim of crime….
Imagine you were watching that incident in real life...
The police were called and wanted to investigate the crime.
What is your role in their investigation?
What would you have to do?
What is the term for someone who has watched a crime?

6. Memory in Real Life To get you thinking..
An ‘eyewitness’ is someone who has seen or witnessed a crime, usually present at the time of the incident.
They use their memory of the crime to give their testimony or a ‘reconstruction’ of what happened.
‘Eyewitness Testimony’ = the evidence provided in court by a person who witnessed a crime, with a view to identifying the perpetrator.

7. Facts on EWT There have been 218 post conviction DNA releases in USA
16/218 exoneratees served time on death row
Average age of exonerees at time of their wrongful conviction was 26
Races of exonerees
134 african americans
59 caucasions
19 latinos
1 asian american
EWT is the biggest contributor to this data why can EWT be so inaccurate?
There are a few causal factors in inaccuarcy of Eye witness testimony, theones we will consider on this course are:

8. What we will look at: Leading questions Post event discussion Anxiety
How to improve the accuracy of the witnesses’ recall: Cognitive Interview (CI)

9. To KNOW & UNDERSTAND what Eye Witness Testimony (EWT) is.
Lesson Objectives
Thinking Ladder…
To KNOW & UNDERSTAND what Eye Witness Testimony (EWT) is.
To KNOW & UNDERSTAND the role of Leading Questions in EWT.
To KNOW & UNDERSTAND Loftus & Palmer’s study in detail.

10. How will I know if I am learning? By the end of the lesson…
Success Criteria
How will I know if I am learning?
By the end of the lesson… E
Will be able to describe Eye Witness Testimony (EWT). C
Will be able to explain the role of leading questions in EWT. A
Will be able to fully describe Loftus and Palmer’s study and understand how it applies to EWT.

11. EWT How often do we get the whole picture?
I saw a skinhead trying to steal a man’s briefcase
How often do we get the whole picture?
How accurate is Eye Witness Testimony/ reconstructed memories?
What might affect the accuracy of an Eye Witness account?
If it wasn’t for that bloke, the old man could’ve been killed!
I saw a young man running up to an old lady. She looked really scared!

12. Let’s find out how accurate EWT might be…?
Watch the incident video in silence. Pay attention, you are the eye witnesses and will be asked a question about it later…
Crime Incident

13. EWT
Questioning…
The police have been called to the scene and want to ask you one vital question about the incident.
On each table there is a question. Turn it over and write down your own answer individually! Do not confer with anyone else!

14. EWT
Results…
Question 1: “How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?” 30, 80
Question 2: “How fast were the cars going when they bumped each other?” 60
Question 3: “How fast were the cars going when they collided with each other?” 50
Question 4: “How fast were cars going when they contacted each other?” 80
Question 5: “How fast were the cars going when they smashed each other?”35 MPH
Why do you think the different questions change eyewitnesses’ perceptions of speed?

15. Loftus and Palmer (1974) EWT
Leading Questions: Experiment 1
45 students shown 7 films of traffic accidents.
Students were given questionnaire
There was one critical question about how fast the cars were going – each with a different verb.

16. Mean speed estimated (MPH)
EWT
Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Leading Questions: Experiment 1
Verb
Mean speed estimated (MPH)
Question 1: “How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?”
34.0
Question 2: “How fast were the cars going when they bumped each other?”
38.1
Question 3: “How fast were the cars going when they collided with each other?”
39.3
Question 4: “How fast were cars going when they contacted each other?”
31.8
Question 5: “How fast were the cars going when they smashed each other?”
40.8
45 students shown 7 films of traffic accidents.
Students were given questionnaire
There was one critical question about how fast the cars were going.
As the verb ‘smashed’ as connotations with increased speed… this group estimated the speed as higher than the other groups.
This shows that misleading or suggestive information can distort Eye Witness Memory

17. So what is a leading question?
EWT
So what is a leading question?
“A question that either by form or content, suggests a desired answer or leads a witness to believe a desired answer.”
Leading questions contain misleading pieces of information or wording and are usually closed.

18. Complete spot the leading question:
The leading questions are: 1,2,3,5,

19. Why do leading questions affect EWT?
Response bias explanations: suggest that the wording of the questions has no real effect on the participants memories, but just influences how they decide to answer.
When a participant gets a leading question using the word ‘smashed’ this encourages them to use a higher speed estimate.

20. Loftus and Palmer Triad
EWT
Loftus and Palmer Triad
Loftus and Palmer conducted a number of famous studies , all of which can SUPPORT (A03) the argument that misleading information alters Eye Witness Memory
Smashed/Hit
Broken Glass

21. Experiment 2: Broken Glass Loftus & Palmer
EWT
Experiment 2: Broken Glass
Loftus & Palmer
150 student participants were shown a short film that showed a multi-vehicle car accident and then they were asked questions about it. The participants were split into 3 groups (with 50 in each group).
1st group: ‘How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?’
2nd group: ‘How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?’
3rd group: asked nothing about the speed.
All groups returned a week later and were asked:
“Did you see any broken glass?” even though there was none in the film.

22. What do these results show?
EWT
Experiment 2: Broken Glass
Loftus & Palmer
Response
Smashed
Hit
Control
Yes 16 7 6 No 34 43 44
What do these results show?

23. Substitute explanations:
The wording of a leading question actually changes the participants memory of the film clip.
Participants who heard ‘smashed’ were more likely to report having seen glass compared to the participants who heard ‘hit’.

24. The correct answer is… c) Knocked
EWT
Test Yourself…
Use your mini whiteboards to answer the following questions…
1. Which of the following was not a cue word in the experiment by Loftus and Palmer?
Smashed
Contacted
Knocked
Hit
The correct answer is… c) Knocked
Resource Developed By: Miss A Simpson

25. The correct answer is… a) Estimate of Speed
EWT
Test Yourself…
2. The DV in the first experiment was…
Estimate of speed
The verb ‘smashed’
The question about broken glass
The film
The correct answer is… a) Estimate of Speed
Resource Developed By: Miss A Simpson

26. The correct answer is… c) 5
EWT
Test Yourself…
3. In Experiment 1, how many experimental conditions were there? 1 3 5 7
The correct answer is… c) 5
Resource Developed By: Miss A Simpson

27. The correct answer is… b) 2
EWT
Test Yourself…
4. In Experiment 2, how many experimental groups were there? 1 2 3 4
The correct answer is… b) 2
Resource Developed By: Miss A Simpson

28. The correct answer is… c) 1 week
EWT
Test Yourself…
5. In Experiment 2, participants were tested immediately and then asked to return for some more questions. How long afterwards was this?
1 day
3 days
1 week
2 weeks
The correct answer is… c) 1 week
Resource Developed By: Miss A Simpson

29. Test Yourself… EWT The ‘smashed’ group The ‘collided’ group
6. In Experiment 2, which group saw the most broken glass?
The ‘smashed’ group
The ‘collided’ group
The ‘hit’ group
The control group
The correct answer is… a) The ‘smashed’ group
Resource Developed By: Miss A Simpson

30. 7. Which of the following is true?
EWT
Test Yourself…
7. Which of the following is true?
Experiment 1 and 2 were both repeated measures
Experiment 1 and 2 were both independent measures
Only Experiment 1 was repeated measures
Only experiment 1 was independent measures
The correct answer is… b) Experiment 1 and 2 were both independent measures
Resource Developed By: Miss A Simpson

31. The correct answer is… b) Students
EWT
Test Yourself…
8. The participants in this study were:
Children
Students
Teachers
Adults
The correct answer is… b) Students
Resource Developed By: Miss A Simpson

32. A03: However in real life Yuille and Cutshall (1986)
13 people witnessed an armed robbery in Canada, the robber was shot and killed. They were interviewed 4 months after the event and this interview included 2 misleading questions.
Ps were able to give an accurate recall of the event compared to initial reports. This suggests that post-event information may not affect memory in real-life EWT.

33. Evaluation:
Has been criticised because the task was artificial; watching a film or looking at CCTV is not the same as real life (Loftus & Palmer).
Watching a film or video of an event is not the same as a real life experience, from the film or video you’re expecting something to happen whereas in real life you aren’t expecting it to happen.
Fear and shock produced in real life may have more have an influence than leading questions / familiarity
Other factors such as time, stereotypes may have more of an impact than leading questions

34. A03: Practical applications:
Police need to avoid leading questions
Need more evidence than identity parades for identifying defendants
Use of cognitive interviews, take witness back to the context of event increases accuracy of recall

35. Homework:
Read and answer the questions on post discussion sheet.