Misleading information
Post-event discussions
Leading questions
Where false memory is created after the event has been witnessed. False information can be implanted into memory by leading questions/post-event discussions
Memory is active and constructed process and not fixed. As we recall an event it can be changed by leading questions and as we discuss an event the original memory can be altered by new information
Police and other interviewers need to avoid witnesses discussing events together before and after proceeding and if a witness is re-interviewed the officers need to be very careful not to influence them with leading questions or bias
Gabbert (2003)- ppts were in pairs where each partner watched a different film of the same incident so they each viewed unique items
Pairs in one condition were encouraged to discuss the event before individually saying what they recalled from the event
Leading questions can be part of post-event discussions where someone is interviews by the police for example
Control group- interviewed alone with no discussion
Discussions after the event can distort memory of the original incident leading to loss of accuracy
The aim of the study was looking at both misleading and leading questions
To test their hypothesis that the language used in eye witness testimony can alter memory
In each group there was a verb change substituted in: Smashed, Collided, Bumped, Hit, Contacted
"How fast were the cars going when they ...... each other?"
Each group was asked a slightly different critical question to see how it affects their estimates of how fast the cars were going
The more dramatic/leading the question (smashed) the higher the speed estimate (smashed=41mph, contacted=31mph)
There was a much higher rate of errors in the discussion groups who went on to give items they had discussions rather than seen- 71% of ppts said they saw the girl steal and 60% said she was guilty despite not actually seeing it
This shows that post event discussions can affect EWT by implanting false information in memory. Good population validity= good external validity
They split ppts into 5 groups of 9 and asked questions about the clips
The dramatic verb triggered a scheme so they used knowledge we already know as well as trigger certain cues leading to retrieval of misinformation
Loftus and Palmer (1974) showed 7 short film clips of a car accident
This shows that a leading question can influence the answer an eye witness gives and therefore possibly reduces the accuracy of their EWT