Eyewitness Testimony (AQA A Level Psychology)

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Cards in this collection (29)

  • What is meant by leading question?

    A leading question is one that suggests a certain answer in the way that it is worded.

  • Which of the following is an example of a leading question?

    a) Did you notice if the assailant was holding a knife?

    b) Did you see the knife?

    c) Did you see a knife?

    b.

    "Did you see the knife?" is an example of a leading question.

    By asking if the witness saw the knife, it suggests that a knife was present at the scene.

  • True or False?

    The independent variable in Loftus & Palmer's study was the speed estimate in miles per hour.

    False.

    The dependent variable in Loftus & Palmer's study was the speed estimate in miles per hour.

    The independent variable was the critical question in which the verb used to describe the car accident was different across five conditions, e.g. smashed, hit, etc.

  • There is real-world application with studies into the effect of leading questions, as the findings can be applied to:

    a) the business and finance world

    b) education and training

    c) the legal world and the criminal justice system

    c.

    There is real-world application with studies into the effect of leading questions, as the findings can be applied to the legal world and the criminal justice system.

  • Which of the following is not an example of post-event discussion?

    a) Reading about the event online

    b) Talking about the event with friends

    c) Being questioned by the police about witnessing the event

    a.

    Reading about the event online is not an example of post-event discussion.

  • True or False?

    Research by Gabbert et al. (2003) investigated the effect of post-event discussion and found that only a small proportion of eyewitnesses who had discussed the crime made mistakes when recalling the events.

    False.

    Gabbert et al. found that a large proportion (71%) of eyewitnesses who had discussed the crime made mistakes when recalling the events.

  • What is the term used to explain the effect that post-event discussion can have on eyewitnesses?

    The term used to explain the effect that post-event discussion can have on an eyewitnesses is memory contamination.

  • Why does Gabbert et al. (2003) have high population validity?

    a) They used a population of students only

    b) They used two different populations

    c) They used a population of real-life eyewitnesses

    b.

    Gabbert et al. used two different populations as part of the study (students and older adults), which gives the study high population validity.

    This suggests that post-event discussion affects people in all populations in a similar way.

  • Why is Gabbert et al.'s study high in reliability?

    Gabbert et al.'s study is high in reliability as it is a lab experiment that uses a standardised procedure, which is easy to replicate to check for consistency.

  • What is meant by anxiety?

    Anxiety is an emotion that brings on feelings of tension, worry and physical changes such as raised blood pressure.

  • One negative effect of anxiety on eyewitness recall is:

    a) the Yerkes-Dodson curve

    b) leading questions

    c) weapon focus effect

    c.

    One negative effect of anxiety on eyewitness recall is the weapon focus effect.

    The eyewitness may fixate on the weapon rather than on the person wielding it.

  • What is the independent variable in Johnson & Scott's (1976) investigation into weapon focus effect?

    a) High-anxiety/low-anxiety

    b) Man holding a gun/man holding a knife

    c) High-pressure/low-pressure

    a.

    The independent variable in Johnson & Scott's (1976) investigation into weapon focus effect is high-anxiety/low-anxiety.

  • Which hormone is thought to have a positive effect on anxiety and eyewitness testimony?

    a) Cortisol

    b) Adrenaline

    c) Oxytocin

    b.

    The hormone which is thought to have a positive effect on anxiety and eyewitness testimony is adrenaline.

    This positive effect may be due to the 'fight, flight or freeze' response which results in a state of high alertness.

  • True or False?

    Yuille & Cutshall (1986) found that eyewitnesses who reported high stress at the time of witnessing a real-life shooting had the best recall out of all the eyewitnesses present at the time.

    True.

    Yuille & Cutshall (1986) found that eyewitnesses who reported high stress at the time of witnessing a real-life shooting had the best recall out of all the eyewitnesses present at the time.

  • Yuille & Cutshall's participants were asked to rate their stress levels using a seven-point scale, which generates what types of data (select two)?

    a) Qualitative data

    b) Quantitative data

    c) Primary data

    d) Secondary data

    b. and c.

    Yuille & Cutshall's participants were asked to rate their stress levels using a seven-point scale which generates quantitative, primary data.

    Quantitative data is the number selected per question on the rating scale.

    Primary data is data collected first-hand from the participants.

  • What does the Yerkes-Dodson curve suggest about the effect of anxiety on performance?

    a) High arousal/anxiety impairs performance

    b) Low arousal/anxiety impairs performance

    c) Anxiety has no effect on performance

    a.

    The Yerkes-Dodson curve suggests that high arousal/anxiety impairs performance.

    Graph illustrating Yerkes-Dodson Law; shows performance versus arousal levels. Optimal performance at medium arousal; low or high arousal impairs performance.
    The Yerkes-Dodson curve
  • True or False?

    Valentine & Mesout (2009) used the participants' heart rate to measure their anxiety, which is an objective way of measuring the variable.

    True.

    Valentine & Mesout (2009) used the participants' heart rate to measure their anxiety which is an objective way of measuring the variable.

    Heart rate is a measure which should not be affected by demand characteristics, increasing its validity.

  • A limitation of the Yerkes-Dodson law is that it may be too:

    a) complex

    b) simple

    c) irrelevant

    b.

    A limitation of the Yerkes-Dodson law is that it may be too simple.

    It does not take into account all the factors that contribute to anxiety, such as cognition, emotional state and physical health.

  • A limitation of a field study such as Yuille & Cutshall's is the lack of control over ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ variables.

    A limitation of a field study such as Yuille & Cutshall's is the lack of control over confounding variables.

  • Which one of the following is not a component of the cognitive interview?

    a) Change perspective

    b) Mental reinstatement of original context

    c) Change order

    d) Verbatim account

    e) Report everything

    d.

    Verbatim account is not a component of the cognitive interview.

  • The purpose of mental reinstatement is to make the memories more accessible by giving ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ and emotional ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ .

    The purpose of mental reinstatement is to make the memories more accessible by giving contextual and emotional cues.

  • During the report everything stage, the eyewitness is asked to:

    a) report all details, however irrelevant they may seem

    b) report all details apart from anything which seems irrelevant

    c) report all details in reverse order

    a.

    During the report everything stage, the eyewitness is asked to report all details, however irrelevant they may seem.

  • True or False?

    One of the purposes of the change the order stage is to prevent the eyewitness's post-event discussion from influencing their recall of events.

    False.

    One of the purposes of the change the order stage is to prevent the eyewitness's schemas from influencing their recall of events.

    Recalling events in reverse order prevents preconceived ideas from influencing what can be recalled.

  • Recalling events in a different order can prevent people from ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ as it is harder to be dishonest when asked to describe events in an ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ order.

    Recalling events in a different order can prevent people from lying as it is harder to be dishonest when asked to describe events in an alternative order.

  • During the final stage of the cognitive interview, the eyewitness is asked to change perspective to recall events from the perspective of (select two):

    a) the police

    b) other witnesses

    c) the victim

    d) the perpetrator

    b and d.

    During the final stage of the cognitive interview, the eyewitness is asked to change perspective to recall events from the perspective of other witnesses and the perpetrator.

  • Research support for the cognitive interview can be found in a meta-analysis carried out by Kohnken et al. (1999). What is a meta-analysis?

    A meta-analysis is research that analyses the quantitative findings of two or more separate studies on the same topic.

  • Which two stages of the cognitive interview, when combined, did Milne & Bull (2002) find provided greater accuracy than the other stages when used alone?

    a) Mental reinstatement and change perspective

    b) Report everything and change order

    c) Report everything and reinstate the context

    c.

    Milne & Bull (2002) found that report everything and reinstate the context gave better accuracy than the other stages of the cognitive interview when used alone.

  • Mello & Fisher (1996) found that the cognitive interview can be tailored to suit different types of people, which is a strength as it accounts for:

    a) individual differences

    b) self-selecting sampling

    c) counterbalancing

    a.

    Mello & Fisher (1996) found that the cognitive interview can be tailored to suit different types of people, which is a strength as it accounts for individual differences.

  • True or False?

    The cognitive interview is a time-efficient method.

    False.

    The cognitive interview is a time-consuming process.

    A lot of time is required for not only conducting the interview but also for training police officers in the technique.