KI: EWT is unreliable

KI: EWT is unreliable

1. Leading Questions

   • Loftus and Palmer 1974
     • Got participants to watch a video of a car crash
     • Participants were asked "How far was the car going when it ______ into the other car?"
       • The word filling the gap was either: bumped, hit, contacted smashed or collided
     • 1 week later- participants were asked if they saw any broken glass- there wasn't any
     • The speed estimates by participants depended on the word that was used.
       • Lowest estimates were for the word 'contacted'
       • Highest estimates were for the word 'smashed'
         • When smashed was used people claimed to have seen broken glass more than any other verb
     • This study demonstrates how leading questions can distort a person's memory of an event- even up to a week later
   • Police officers could ask leading questions

2. Weapon Focus

   • Pickel 1998
     • Investigated whether presence of a weapon affected recall
     • Participants were given 2 min clip to view of a man walking up to a hair dresser receptionist with either:
       • Nothing in his hands; a pair of scissors; a gun; a wallet or raw chicken
     • Participants were then asked what he was doing and to recognise him in a line up
     • The unusual objects had the most deleterious effect on recall, but not on line up identification
       • Weapons are usually seen out of context, so is unnatural- This would explain why memory is impaired
   • Weapon focus is thought cause narrowing of attention, meaning peripheral detail eg hair colour, aren't remembered as well

3. Swaying of the eye witness

   • Sadava and McCreary 1997
     • Found that interviewing can sway the outcome of an EWT
     • An eye witness could be swayed because they often comply with what they think the interviewers want to hear
     • Links to EWT through line ups. They want to help the police so assume the criminal will be presented in the line up. Eye witnesses often look for the closest match, rather than saying they don't think the person is there

4. Time Distortion

   • Loftus et al 1987
     • Made participants watch footage of a simulated bank robbery
     • The estimated duration, by participants, was 5 times greater than it actually was
   • Pezdeck 2002
     • Investigated the recall of 9/11
     • Found an underestimation of time between the plane striking the first tower and it's collapse (Average estimate was 62 mins, but in fact it was 108 mins)
   • Both studies concluded that time is distorted in the recall of events- but it can be longer or shorter
   • This can affect the accuracy of EWT because time can distort recall of events

5. Violence

   • Clifford and Hollin 1981
     • Showed video footage of a man stealing a woman's handbag and pushing her against the wall or a man asking her for directions
       • Recall was poorer for violent footage
     • It was suggested that violence causes interference in memory and doesn't allow rehearsal to take place