Eyewitness testimony

1. Memory: specification
• Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness
testimony: misleading information,
including leading questions and post-event
discussion; anxiety

2. Memory: eyewitness testimony
• Without looking do the following:
• Draw a picture of both sides of a 10p coin.
• Write down the name of the person shown on
the back of a new £5 note.

5. Memory: eyewitness testimony
• We are often unable to accurately recall
details of objects that we use daily.
• This is not a major problem as long as we
recognise a 10 pence coin or £5 pound
note.
• It is a major problem when someone gives
evidence in a court of law about a crime.

6. Memory: eyewitness testimony
• Eye witness testimony: the evidence
provided in court by a witness of a
crime.
• An area of memory research that
investigates the accuracy of memory
following an accident, crime, or other
significant event.

7. Memory: eyewitness testimony
• Read the BBC article on
eyewitness testimony.

9. Memory: eyewitness testimony
• The accuracy of eyewitness memory can be
affected at:
1.The encoding stage: a crime or accident is fast
and unexpected. Not all the details are encoded
and stored in long term memory.
2.The retrieval stage: research has found that
misleading post event information can affect the
accuracy of eyewitness memory.

10. Memory: eyewitness testimony
Elizabeth Loftus

11. Memory: eyewitness testimony
• Research by Elizabeth Loftus has focused
on the retrieval stage of eyewitness
memory.
• She has conducted research that has
demonstrated how memory for events can
be changed by later information.
• She has demonstrated how memory is
reconstructive: information can be deleted
or added every time we remember an
event.

12. Memory: eyewitness testimony
• Loftus has conducted controlled lab
experiments to investigate the effect
of key factors on the accuracy of
eyewitness testimony:
1.Leading questions
2.Post event-discussion

14. Eyewitness testimony: leading questions
• Leading questions are questions phrased in such a way
that they prompt a particular answer.
‘How fast was the white car going when it passed the stop
sign?’
‘How fast was the car going when it passed the stop sign?’

16. Loftus & Palmer

17. Eyewitness testimony: leading questions
• Read p.27 & 28 of the memory
booklet and complete the key study
worksheet.

18. Memory: post-event discussion
• A discussion between witnesses about a
crime or accident after the event.
• This type of discussion may affect the
memory of the witness for the event.

19. Memory: eyewitness testimony
• Gabbert et al (2003) found evidence that post-
event discussion did affect eyewitness
testimony and led to inaccurate recall of a
crime.
• Read p.28 & 29 of the memory booklet and
complete the key study worksheet.