1 / 16

Eyewitness Testimony

Eyewitness Testimony. Reconstructive memory Schema driven errors Effect of leading questions Other factors Weapon focus Effects of anxiety/arousal Retrieval cues. www.psychlotron.org.uk. Reconstructive Memory. Bartlett (1932) Memory is not a direct record of what was witnessed

kerryn
Télécharger la présentation

Eyewitness Testimony

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Eyewitness Testimony • Reconstructive memory • Schema driven errors • Effect of leading questions • Other factors • Weapon focus • Effects of anxiety/arousal • Retrieval cues www.psychlotron.org.uk

  2. Reconstructive Memory • Bartlett (1932) • Memory is not a direct record of what was witnessed • What is encoded and how it is retrieved depends on: • Information already stored in memory • How this info is understood, structured and organised www.psychlotron.org.uk

  3. Reconstructive Memory • Schemas • Knowledge structures that relate to commonly encountered objects, situations or people • Enable us to predict events, make sense of unfamiliar circumstances, organise our own behaviour • Act as filters to perception & recall www.psychlotron.org.uk

  4. Computer Information Processing BANG! Can you wreck a nice beach? www.psychlotron.org.uk

  5. Can you wreck a nice beach? Schema Driven Processing Yes. I can recognise speech. www.psychlotron.org.uk

  6. Input Schema Output ‘Pickaxe’ ‘Turf cutter’ Bartlett (1932) www.psychlotron.org.uk Bartlett (1932)

  7. Bartlett (1932) • War of the Ghosts • When recalled by UK PPs: • Shorter • Less detailed • Some details changed (e.g. seal hunting changed to fishing) • More ‘Western’ structure www.psychlotron.org.uk

  8. EWT: Schema Driven Errors • Witnesses to crimes filter information during acquisition & recall • Their schematic understanding may influence how info is both stored & retrieved • Distortions may occur without the witness realising www.psychlotron.org.uk

  9. EWT: Schema Driven Errors • Past experiences • Assumptions about what usually happens • Stereotypes & beliefs about crime & criminals www.psychlotron.org.uk

  10. EWT: Leading Questions • Loftus (1970s onwards) • Effect of leading questions on recall • Leading questions introduce new information • Leading info may activate wrong schemas in witness’ mind • Consequently, witness may recall events incorrectly www.psychlotron.org.uk

  11. EWT: Leading Questions • Loftus’ studies using film/video/slides road accidents • ‘How fast were cars going when they hit…’ or ‘…when they smashed…’? • ‘Smashed’ led to higher speed estimates • ‘Did you see a/the broken headlight’? • ‘The’ produced more affirmative (incorrect) responses www.psychlotron.org.uk

  12. EWT: Leading Questions • Loftus’ research usually lab based: • Restricted samples (students) • Artificial stimuli (slides, videos, not real events) • Potential for demand characteristics to influence responses • No legal/moral consequences for inaccurate answers www.psychlotron.org.uk

  13. EWT: Leading Questions • EWT most affected by leading Qs when: • Witness believes questioner knows more than them • Witness does not realise they may be misled • Leading information is peripheral, not central • Leading information is not blatantly incorrect www.psychlotron.org.uk

  14. EWT: Weapon Focus • When a weapon is used to threaten a victim, their attention is likely to focus on it • Consequently, their recall of other information is likely to be poor www.psychlotron.org.uk

  15. EWT: Arousal Effects • Memory is most effective at moderate arousal levels • If the witness was in a state of extremely low or high arousal then recall may be poor performance arousal www.psychlotron.org.uk

  16. EWT: Retrieval Cues • Recall typically takes place in a different context to acquisition • Lack of retrieval cues (state and context) can inhibit recall • Reconstruction of the events (either imagination or simulation) can lead to enhanced recall www.psychlotron.org.uk

More Related