Key question

Question 1

what is the cognitive key question?

Answer 1

how reliable is EWT and how can we improve it?

Question 2

what does EWT refer to?

Answer 2

the recalled memory of an eye witness of a crime and this is recorded as a police statement and can be given verbally as evidence in a court of law.

Question 3

why is this EWT being reliable important?

Answer 3

• because often juries are more likely to rely on this than scientific proof.
• therefore the outcome of many trials hinges on the accuracy of an EWT

Question 4

what could happen if EWT is unreliable?

Answer 4

then it could lead to someone being wrongly accused and being sent to jail which means the actual perpetrator is left free to commit more crimes.

Question 5

what psychologist called the accuracy of EWT into questions?

Answer 5

In the 1970’s a series of experiments by Loftus called the accuracy of eyewitness
testimony into question.

Question 6

how would you end a question asking you to describe your key question?

Answer 6

“so can our knowledge of memory help explain how reliable or not it is, and if it isn’t very reliable how we could improve it?”

Question 7

what did Loftus and Palmer find that suggest EWT is not reliable?

Answer 7

• they carried out a study 1974,
• where participants were shown clips of a car crash
• they where then asked “how fast was the car travelling when it hit, bumped, smashed or contacted into the other car” the work used to describe the crash was changed each time.
• the results showed that those who were asked the question with the word “contacted” said the speed was 34mph and the group who were asked the question with the word “smashed” = estimated a speed of 40.8 mph

Question 8

how can the MSM of memory be used as a theory to explain why EWT may be unreliable?

Answer 8

• attention needs to be paid to the crime or the information will not be remembered.
• the short-term memory only has a capacity of 18-30 seconds info decay may occur if it isn’t rehearsed.
• may not be questioned for 6 months so if it hasn’t been rehearsed than you wont remember but if it has by telling friends you might remember.

Question 9

how can the WMM model explain why EWT may not be reliable?

Answer 9

• central executive decides what is
  important. If focusing on something else,
  e.g. walking down the street having a
  conversation with someone, if not
  obvious may not have been significant
  enough for central executive to give it
  attention

Question 10

how is EWT cue dependant ?

Answer 10

• often police bring EW back to the scene of the crime to see if they remember anything and get cued retrieval from the environment.
• however sometimes it is still difficult and the EWT may of been in a certain emotional state which is unethical to reproduce.

Question 11

how can reconstructive memory explain why their may be inaccuracies in EWT?

Answer 11

• Bartlett described how our memories use confabulation to make sense of a situation by adding to it
• some EWT may rationalise what they have seen by using confabulation.
• for e.g. if someone stole something from a alcohol store, the EW may be feeling overwhelming amounts of adrenaline or may of not been paying attention.
• therefore they say that the person stole alcohol as that would make sense, when in reality there stole an inexpensive good such as a chocolate bar.

Question 12

what is a real life example of where EWT can go wrong?

Answer 12

• Ronald Cotton was wrongly accused of sexually assaulting Jenifer Cotton and was imprisoned for 10 years until the real perpetrator Bobby Poole

Question 13

how can the cognitive interview process be better in ensuring accurate EWT in compared to a standard interview?

Answer 13

4 R’s

• recreate the context = cue dependency e.g. talk about the time of day, whether, mood
• report everything = even if it doesn’t seem releavant as it may trigger more info
• report from different perspectives = the criminal/victim.
• recall in different orders = from finish to end

Question 14

what study supports the cognitive interview?

Answer 14

Geiselman et al 1985 - Found that the cog interview produced 40% more correct details than the standard police interview.

Question 15

what are the problems with using the cognitive interview?

Answer 15

• time consuming
• requires competent police officers
• hard to achieve when dealing with vulnerable witnesses.
• difficult for smaller crimes such as theft.