1
Q
Cognitive psychology
A
Cognitive psychology is concerned with people’s thoughts processes + how these affect the way in which they behave
2
Q
Memory
A
- Memory is the process of retaining learned info + accessing this info when it is needed
- Memory is an important factor in how human beings process information
3
Q
Processes in Memory
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1) Coding
2) Storage
3) Retrieval
4
Q
Coding
A
The way info is changed so that it can be stored in memory
5
Q
Storage
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Keeping info within the memory system until it is needed
6
Q
Retrieval
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Recovering info stored in the memory system when it is required
7
Q
Memory Stores
A
1) Sensory Register
2) Short Term Memory
3) Long Term Memory
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Q
Capacity
A
- STM differs from LTM in terms of coding, capacity, duration + how info is lost
- Capacity is the amount of info that can be held in memory before new incoming info displaces it (info is pushed out)
9
Q
Duration
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The amount of time info can be held in a memory store before it is lost due to decay (info fades away)
10
Q
Multi Store Model of Memory (MSM)
A
- The MSM was developed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
- It attempts to explain how info flows from one memory store to another
- There are 3 permanent structures in the memory system: SR, STM, LTM
- Each of these memory stores differ in terms of their capacity, duration, coding + how info is lost from them
11
Q
Sensory Register (SR)
A
- Environmental stimuli received through the senses enter the SR which is a short duration store retaining unprocessed impressions of info received through the senses
- It has a separate sensory store for each sensory input
- There is an iconic store for visual info + the echoic store for auditory
- The capacity of the SR is unlimited but the duration is only 250 milliseconds
- A small fraction of the info received by the SR is attended to and selected for further processing in STM
- If not attended to, sensory info is lost due to decay
12
Q
Short Term Memory (STM)
A
- If info in the SR is attended to, it is acoustically coded into STM so similar sounding material can be confused
- STM is a temporary store for info received from the SR before it is transferred to LTM
- Info may be recalled at this point + then forgotten before it is transferred to LTM
- STM has a limited capacity of 7+-2 pieces of info so info can be displaced by new incoming info
- STM also has a short duration of 18-30 sec
- This means that without rehearsal info will decay very quickly
- Info can be kept in STM using maintenance rehearsal (repeatedly verbalising or thinking about the information)
- This is known as a rehearsal loop
- If there is sufficient rehearsal or elaborative rehearsal (where info is organised in a meaningful way) then the info may be transferred to LTM for more permanent storages
13
Q
Long Term Memory (LTM)
A
- If info is sufficiently rehearsed in STM then it is semantically coded into LTM
- This is a permanent store holding vast amounts of info for long periods of time
- The capacity of LTM is potentially infinite + there is no way of accurately measuring it
- The duration of LTM could potentially be a lifetime
- When info in LTM is needed it is retrieved by STM + then recalled
- Sometimes we cant access info from LTM because of retrieval failure + so we may need retrieval cues to help us access it
14
Q
Advantage of the MSM (Neurobiological Evidence) - 1
A
- Scoville attempted to treat a patient by removing several brain areas including a hippocampus (called HMs epilepsy)
- Resulted in patient unable to code new LTM although his STM was unaffected
- Supports idea of separate and distinct STM and LTM
15
Q
Advantage of the MSM (Neurobiological Evidence) - 2
A
- Shallice and Warrington reported the case study of KF who had reduced STM capacity due to a motorbike accident but by only 1 or 2 digits yet his LTM was normal
- Supports idea of separate STM and LTM
- However KF had poor STM for verbal tasks but not visuals tasks which suggests that there is more than one type of of STM which contradicts the MSM
- According to MSM, LTM are retrieved by STM so if STM is damaged it should be difficult to retrieve LTM
- However KF was able to access LTM without any difficulty
16
Q
Advantage of the MSM (Lab Experiments) - 1
A
- Murdock presented participants with a long list of words to be recalled in any order (free recall experiment)
- Words at the beginning, end were recalled better than middle (serial position effect)
- Words at the beginning are recalled because they have been constantly rehearsed and transferred to LTM (primacy effect) while words at the end are recalled because they are still in STM (recency effect)
- Supports idea of distinct and separate STM and LTM
17
Q
Disadvantage of the MSM (General Evaluation) - 1
A
- MSM is over simplified in assuming that there is only 1 type of STM and LTM
- Studies indicate that there are several types of STM such as one for verbal info (phonological loop) + non verbal info (visuo-spatial sketch pad)
- Several types of LTM (episodic for life events, semantic for knowledge, procedural for motor skills)
18
Q
Disadvantage of the MSM (General Evaluation) - 2
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- Baddeley and Hitch claimed that the MSM couldn’t explain the ability to multitask (if there was only 1 type of STM then multitask wouldn’t be possible
- However people multitask all the time e.g. listening to the radio while driving
19
Q
The Working Memory Model (WMM)
A
- Baddeley and Hitch (1974) questioned the idea promoted by the MSM that people only have one type of STM
- They also argued that STM is far more complex than simply being a temporary store for info before it is transferred to LTM
- They instead saw STM as an active store holding several pieces of info while they are being worked on + that is why they referred to their model as the WMM
- They argued that LTM is the passive store that only holds previously learned material to be used by STM when needed
20
Q
The Central Executive (CE)
A
- The CE drives that whole working memory system + allocates data to the other components known as slave systems
- It also deals with cognitive tasks such as decision making, reasoning and problem solving
- Individuals have a limited attentional capacity, tasks that are automated make less attentional demands on the CE + so leave us free to perform other tasks
- A person who has been driving for 10 years will find that driving has become an automated task that doesn’t make as many attentional demands as it did when they were learning to drive + so they can now listen to the radio or talk to passengers much more easily than a learner driver can
21
Q
The Phonological Loop
A
- The phonological loop is the component of working memory that deals with spoken + unwritten material
- It has 2 sub components: the phonological store and articulatory loop
22
Q
Phonological Store
A
- The phonological store is sometimes referred to as the inner ear
- It is linked to speech perception + holds info in speech based form (i.e. spoken words) for 1-2 seconds
23
Q
Articulatory Loop
A
- The articulatory loop sometimes referred to as the inner voice
- It is linked to speech production + is used to rehearse and store verbal info from the phonological store
- This allows for maintenance rehearsal
24
Q
The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad
A
- The visuo-spatial sketchpad stores and processes info in a visual or spatial form
- It is used for navigation
- It is sometimes referred to as the inner eye
- It has 2 sub components: visual cache and inner scribe
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Visual Cache
Stores visual material about form and colour
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Inner Scribe
Handles spatial relationships
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The Episodic Buffer
- Baddeley (2000) added another component called the episodic buffer because he realised that the model needed a general storage component to operate properly
- This is because the slave systems only deal with processing and temporary storage of specific types of info + the CE has no storage capacity at all
- The episodic buffer is a limited capacity store, integrating info from the CE, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad as well as from LTM
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Advantage of WMM (Neurobiological Evidence) - 1
- Shallice and Warrington reported the case study of KF who had poor STM due to a motorbike accident for words that were presented verbally but not for words that were presented visually
- Suggests there is more than one type of STM as the WMM suggests
- Shows that we have a type of STM for verbal tasks (phonological loop) + visual (visuo-spatial sketchpad)
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Advantage of WMM (Lab Experiments) - 1
- Baddeley and Hitch gave participants a dual task
- Asked to complete a reasoning task which uses the CE + at the same time as a reading aloud task which uses the phonological loop
- Participants could do both simultaneously very well supporting the idea of separate components in STM
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Advantage of WMM (Lab Experiments) - 2
- Baddeley et al gave participants brief visual presentations of lists of words
- These words were made up either of short words or long words
- Participants were asked to recall the list immediately in the correct order + it was found that the participants could recall more short words than long ones
- Baddeley called this the word length effect + concluded that it supports the idea that the phonological loop can hold as many items as can be said in 1.5 to 2 seconds rather than being limited by 7+-2 items as the MSM argues
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Advantage of WMM (General Evaluation) - 1
- WMM has practical applications
- Improved understanding of how people learn to read + so helped psychologists to assist those with dyslexia who can struggle with reading
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Disadvantage of WMM (General Evaluation) - 1
- Several psychologists have criticised the WMM because they think the idea of CE is vague and untestable
- Damasio presented the case of EVR who had a cerebral tumour removed
- He had good reasoning skills which suggests his CE was intact but he couldn’t make decisions which suggests his CE was damaged
- This case study strongly indicates that the CE is more complicated than the WMM claims
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Episodic Memory
- Episodic memory is your memory for **events** e.g. your recollection of your first day of school, a family holiday, your last birthday etc
- Episodic memories have 3 elements: specific details of the event, the context of the event and the emotions you were feeling at the same time of the event
- Episodic memories are stored in the hippocampus
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Semantic Memory
- Semantic memory is your memory for **facts + general knowledge** about the world e.g. 2+2=4
- Semantic memories may also relate to things such as the functions of an object, what behaviour is appropriate in a certain situation as well as abstract concepts such as mathematics and language
- Semantic memories begin as episodic memories because we acquire knowledge based on personal experiences
- There is a gradual transition from episodic memory to semantic memory when memory slowly loses its association to particular events + is generalised
- Sometimes however people can have a strong recollection of when + where they learned a particular fact
- Semantic memories are stored in the temporal lobe
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Procedural Memory
- Procedural memory (sometimes called muscle memory) is concerned with **motor skills and actions** e.g. knowing how to drive
- Procedural memories are typically acquired through practice and repetition + seem to be more resistant to forgetting or amnesia than other types of LTM
- We are less aware of procedural memories because they have become automatic + are unable for conscious inspection (unlike episodic memories and semantic memories) making it difficult to explain them verbally
- Often if you think too much about procedural memories it prevents you from carrying them out e.g. if you really think about what you are doing while riding a bike you will probably lose your balance
- It is important that procedural memories are automatic so that we can focus our attention on other tasks while performing these everyday skills
- Procedural memories are stored in the cerebellum
36
Advantage of Long Term Memory (1)
- Evidence for distinction between episodic/ semantic and procedural memory has come from research on patients with amnesia
- Typically patients with amnesia are unable to store new episodic or semantic memories but their procedural memory appears to be largely unaffected
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Advantage of Long Term Memory (2) - *scientific evidence*
- Scientific evidence from brain scans supports the view that there are diff types of LTM
- E.g. when asking participants to recall diff types of info, diff areas are shown to be active on a FMRI
- Episodic memories are associated with the hippocampus, semantic memories are associated with the temporal lobe + procedural memories are associated with the cerebellum
38
Advantage of Long Term Memory (3)
- Case studies of brain damaged patients offer support for the diff types of LTM
- E.g. Clive Wearing is a man who suffered from a viral infection which damaged his hippocampus
- He has no episodic memory and can’t form new semantic memories
- However his procedural memory is intact e.g. can play the piano
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Disadvantage of Long Term Memory
- Research into diff types of LTM have typically been conducted on individual patients e.g. Clive Wearing and HM
- Case studies are highly detailed + provide a lot of info but are isolated cases of one individual
- It would be inappropriate to assume that everyone’s LTM is formed in the same way
- So the findings can’t be generalised to the wider population
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Forgetting
The term forgetting is used to refer to a person's loss of ability to recall or recognise something that they have previously learned
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Interference Theory
- Interference theory claims that forgetting occurs when two lots of info become confused in memory
- Interference is more likely to occur when the two lots of info are similar to one another
- Interference is less likely to occur when there is a gap between the instances of learning
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Retroactive Interference
- Is when new learning affects the recall of old info
- Less likely to occur when there is a gap between the instances of learning
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Proactive Interference
Is when old learning affects the recall of new info
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Advantage of Interference Theory (1)
- Keppel + Underwood investigated proactive interference
- Participants were presented with meaningless 3 letter trigrams (e.g. TGH) at diff intervals (3, 6, 9 etc)
- To prevent rehearsal they had to count backwards in 3s before recall
- The participants mostly remembered the trigrams that were presented first
- Concluded: memory for earlier trigrams was interfering with the memory for later trigrams
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Advantage of Interference Theory (2)
- Theory has practical applications
- Students should be made aware of this theory so that they don’t revise similar content/subjects at the same time as this will make interferences more likely to occur
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Disadvantage of Interference Theory (1)
- When interference occurs the loss of info may only be temporary
- Therefore interference is not a true explanation for forgetting as info is not actually over written + still in LTM
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Disadvantage of Interference Theory (2)
- Some psychologists argue retrieval failure is a much better explanation of forgetting in everyday life than interference
- Theory states that we forget when there are not enough retrieval cues to help us remember
- Godden and Baddeley got divers to learn and recall word lists on either dry land or underwater
- Results showed words learnt and recalled in the same context were better remembered as there were retrieval cues in the environment to help them remember the words
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Retrieval Failure
- Retrieval failure argues that forgetting occurs in the absence of appropriate retrieval cues
- When info is initially placed in memory, data associated with the info is stored at the same time
- If these retrieval cues are not available at the time of recall it may make it appear as if you have forgotten the info when in fact your just can’t access it at that time
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Retrieval cues
- Some retrieval cues are linked to the material that needs to be remembered in a meaningful way e.g. the anagram STM may lead people to recall all sorts of info about short term memory
- Other retrieval cues are coded at the same time of learning but not in a meaningful way
50
Context Cues
- The **environment** in which material is learnt can act as retrieval cues
- This means that if you recall info in the same environment that you learned it e.g. same classroom then your recall will be better
- If you are not in the same context at retrieval as you were at coding then forgetting can occur
51
State Cues
- An individual’s **physical state** e.g. mood can affect their recall
- Research studies suggest that recall is facilitated if people have a similar physical system at recall as when the info was coded
- If you are not in the same physical state at recall as you were when you learned the info then you might fail to access the info
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Advantage of Retrieval Failure Theory (1)
- Abernethy demonstrated the importance of context-dependent cues
- Tested participants recall using a mixture of familiar/unfamiliar instructors + teaching rooms
- Those tested by a familiar instructor, in a familiar room performed best because the instructor + room acted as retrieval cues to help them remember words
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Advantage of Retrieval Failure Theory (2)
- Darley showed the importance of state dependent cues
- Found participants who hid money in a large warehouse while under the influence of cannabis were more likely to recall the hiding place in a drugged state
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Advantage of Retrieval Failure Theory (3)
- Has practical applications
- Students should revise/learn in the room they will take their exams
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Disadvantage of Retrieval Failure Theory
- Baddeley argues that the influence of retrieval cues is not strong
- In real life we recall something in a diff context to where we learnt it
- E.g. students don’t take their GCSEs where they learnt the info they needed for that exam
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Eyewitness Testimony (EWT)
- Is the evidence supplied to a court by people who have seen a crime based on their memory of the incident
- This evidence can include an identification of the perpetrator or details of the crime (sequence of events, the time of day etc)
- Juries are often heavily influenced by eyewitnesses
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Leading Questions
- Are questions that are phrased in such a way as to encourage a witness to give a certain answer
- The response bias explanation argues that leading questions don’t affect memory, only the answer a person chooses to give
- However, the substitution bias explanation proposes that leading questions distort memories because they contain misleading information
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Procedure
- Loftus and Palmer (1974) showed 45 American students a film of a car crash + then asked them to estimate the speed that the cars were travelling when they crashed
- However diff verbs were used in the question depending on the condition
- The verbs were contacted, hit, bumped, collided or smashed
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Findings
- Participants in the ‘contacted’ condition estimated the speed as 31mph but in the ‘smashed’ condition participants estimated the speed as 41 mph
- A week later participants are asked if they saw any broken glass even though there was no broken glass shown in the film
- 32% of the participants in the ‘smashed’ condition reported seeing broken glass compared to only 12% in the control condition
- This shows that leading questions have a significant impact on what people recall + can change a person’ entire memory of an event
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Advantage of Leading Questions
- The study is a lab experiment + highly controlled
- This reduces chance of extraneous variables + increasing validity of results
- Furthermore it is easy to replicate and see if same results are found meaning study is reliable
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Disadvantage of Leading Questions (1)
- The study has questionable ecological validity
- The participants watched a video of a car crash
- People who witness a real car accident have a stronger emotional connection to the event + may not be susceptible to leading questions
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Disadvantage of Leading Questions (2)
- The study lacks population validity
- The study consisted of 45 American students
- Students are less experienced drivers may be less capable of estimating speeds
- Consequently we are unable to generalise the results of this study to other populations
- Older and more experienced drivers may be more accurate in their judgement of speeds + therefore less susceptible to leading questions
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Post Event Discussion
- The memory of an event can be contaminated through discussing events with others due to misinformation (memory contamination)
- Also a desire for social approval can lead co witnesses to reach a consensus view of what happened (memory conformity)
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Procedure
- Gabbert (2003) put participants in pairs and got them to watch a different video of the same event so that they each got unique details
- In one condition, the pairs were encouraged to discuss the event with one another before individually recalling the event
- In the other condition they did not discuss what they had seen with one another
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Findings
71% of witnesses who had discussed the event went on to mistakenly recall details that they could not have seen themselves but that they had learned of during the discussion with their partner
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Advantage of Post Event Discussion
- This study has population validity
- 2 different populations: students and older were compared + there were no significant differences between these 2 groups
- This allows us to conclude that post event discussion affects younger + older adults in a similar way
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Disadvantage of Post Event Discussion
- This study lacks ecological validity
- The participants knew they were taking part in an experiment + they therefore are more likely to have paid close attention to the details of the video clip
- The results don't reflect real life where witnesses may be exposed to less info
68
Anxiety
Is a state of apprehension, uncertainty and fear resulting from a threatening situation
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Effect of anxiety on memory:
- When anxiety is high it can often impair both physical + psychological functioning
- Several psychologists have suggested that the anxiety that occurs when witnessing a crime can prevent accurate + detailed recall of that crime
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Weapon focus effect
- The presence of a weapon during a crime increases anxiety + therefore could impair witnesses' memory of the crime
- People who observe a violent crime will often pay attention to the aspect of the situation posing the most threat to them because of the anxiety these weapons cause
- This means that witnesses who see a violent crime in great detail but they can't recall much about the criminal themselves
- This is called the weapon focus effect
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Procedure
- Loftus (1979) wanted to see whether anxiety affected a person's ability to recognise a perpetrator of a crime
- In the experimental condition, participants were made to overhear a heated and hostile argument between two people
- They also heard sounds of furniture being overturned and broken glass
- Then a man emerged carrying a letter opener covered in blood
- In the control condition participants overheard a conversation between two people about lab equipment failure before a man with grease all over his hands emerged carrying a pen
- Participants were then asked to identify the person they had just seen from 50 photos
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Findings
- Only **33%** of the participants in the bloody letter opener condition recognised the photo of the person carrying the letter opener
- Whereas **49%** of the participants in the pen condition recognised the photo of the person carrying the pen
- Loftus argues that this occurred because people in the former condition had focused on the blood letter opener rather than the person carrying it because the letter opener was a weapon that could pose a threat to them
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Advantage of Anxiety
- This study is supported by other studies
- Loftus and Burns allocated participants into one of two conditions
- One watched a violent short film where a boy was shot in the head + the other watched a non violent short film
- Participants were less accurate in recall when they saw the short film with a gun than those who watched the non violent movie
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Disadvantage of Anxiety (1)
- There are **individual differences** in how anxiety affects memory
- Some have better recall when they are anxious
- A study conducted by psychologists using 110 real life eyewitnesses who has witnessed 22 bank robberies
- Some were onlookers + some were bank clerks directly threatened by the robbers
- It was found that victims were more accurate than onlookers in their descriptions of the bank robbers
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Disadvantage of Anxiety (2)
- This study **lacks ecological validity**
- Although they were waiting in the reception area outside the lab they may have anticipated something was going to happen which could have affected the accuracy of their judgements and validity of the study
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Disadvantage of Anxiety (3)
- This study violated numerous ethical guidelines
- The participants were **deceived** about the nature of the experiment
- **Not protected from psychological harm** as they were exposed to a man who they were led to believe had just killed someone, holding a bloodied knife which could have caused them extreme distress
- Participants may have left the experiment feeling exceptionally stressed especially if they or someone they knew had been involved in knife crime
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Fisher
- Fisher (1987) studied real police interviews over a 4 month period and found that questions were brief, direct, fact based and closed
- Witnesses were often interrupted + not allowed to expand upon their answers
- This was referred to as the standard interview
- Fischer argued that this might be contributing to the failure of eyewitnesses to accurately recall the event they had witnessed
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Geiselman (1985)
He developed the cognitive interview to improve police interview techniques + obtain more accurate info from eyewitnesses
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4 main stages of the Cognitive Interview
1) Context Reinstatement
2) Report Everything
3) Recall From Changed Perspective
4) Recall in Reverse Order
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1 - Context Reinstatement
- The witness tries to **mentally create an image** of the situation including details of the environment such as the weather conditions + their emotional state including their feelings at the time of the incident
- These may act as **retrieval cues** (context dependent cues) to improve recall
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2 - Report Everything
- The interviewer encourages the witness to **recall all details** about the event even though these details may seem to be unimportant
- This may highlight details which have been overlooked + trigger other memories
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3 - Recall From Changed Perspective
- The witness tries to mentally recreate the situation from different points of view e.g. describing what another person present at the scene would have seen
- This promotes a more holistic view of the event which might enhance recall + reduce the influence of schemas (are mental structures of preconceived ideas)
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4 - Recall in Reverse Order
- The witness is asked to recall the scene in a different chronological order e.g. from the end to the beginning
- This should verify the accuracy of the witnesses account + reduce the possibility that recall may be influenced by schemas/expectations
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Enhanced Cognitive Interview
Fisher added additional guidelines for police interviews:
- Encourage the witness to relax + speak slowly (this will reduce anxiety + may enhance recall)
- Avoid distractions
- Use open ended questions
- Offer comments to help clarify witness statements (may improve detail of the statement)
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Advantage of the Cognitive Interview (1)
- Geiselman showed participants a video of a stimulated crime and tested recall using the cognitive interview, standard interview or hypnosis
- The cognitive interview led to the most info being recalled by the eyewitnesses
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Advantage of the Cognitive Interview (2)
- Fisher trained real police officers in Miami to use the enhanced cognitive interview when interviewing eyewitnesses
- They found there was a 46% increase in the amount of info witnesses gave
- 90% of info that could be verified was accurate
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Disadvantage of the Cognitive Interview (1)
It is time consuming to implement and police officers don’t have the time, training, resources to use it
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Disadvantage of the Cognitive Interview (2)
- Memon reported that police officers believed that the Recall From Changed Perspective stage misleads witnesses into speculating about the event they witnessed rather than reporting what they actually saw
- For this reason, police were reluctant to use it
Psychology
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