Memory: Eye-Witness Testimony

Memory: Eye-Witness Testimony

1. Leading Questions

   • Loftus and Palmer
     • lab experiment
     • showed pp's a film of car accidents and asked questions about the speed of the cars
     • less 'aggressive' or intense the words were, the slower the predicted speeds
   • Response-bias explanations suggest that the wording of the question has no real effect on the pp's memories of the event but just influences how they answer

2. Post-Event Discussion (PED)

   • Gabbert et al
   • We need to know the issues with EWT and how we should interview eyewitnesses

3. Anxiety having a positive effect on EWT

4. Anxiety having a negative effect on EWT

5. EWT is the evidence given in court or in police investigations by someone who has witnessed a crime or accident

6. memories at the time of an event are fragile and subject to distortion

7. misinfo can give serious errors