Pyschology Miss leading information and Eye witness testimony (Anxiety)

Pyschology Miss leading information and Eye witness testimony (Anxiety)

1. Research

   • Loftus and Palmer (1974)
     • Lab experiment
     • 5 groups of students watched a video of a car accident
     • Used different words to describe the crash to see how fast they estimated the car was going
       • Smashed (Estimate 41 miles)
       • Collided
       • Bumped
       • Hit
       • Contacted (Estimate 31 miles)

2. What is Miss leading information?

   • Leading a question can emply that a certain answer is correct!
   • Examples!
     • Repeating the question
     • Ending with 'Didn't you' or 'are you sure'

3. What is Eye Witness Testimony (EWT)?

   • Eye witness testimony is the statement of a witness to a crime
   • It presents a huge issue as according to research our memory is not always accurate
   • Their has been a lot of research into how anxiety effects the accuracy of a testimony given.

4. Research

   • Johnson and Scott, the Pen and the Knife study
     • Lab experiment
     • Two groups, two conditions
       • Condition A - A convosation could be herd about equipment failure in the next room from the PP's, walked past the group holding a pen after
       • Condition B - A heated argument could be herd in the next room (Glass smashing and chairs thrown), man walked past holding a blood stained knife after
     • Results
       • PP's were asked to recall the face of the man carrying the pen and the man carrying the knife out of 50 pictures
         • The pen - 49% could identify the man holding the pen
         • The knife - Only 33% could idntify the man holding the knife
       • It is believed that anxiety stopped the witness being able to take in key infomation