Eye Witness Testimony

Eye Witness Testimony

The language used by the police when interviewing witnesses and

barristers during a trial may influence answers given by witnesses,

this language may affect initial perception and subsequent recall.

Both of these effects are shown in the study by Loftus & Palmer

{1974).

My experiment into this field showed the leading question with the

`verb` contained the information about what the answer should be, thus

language can have a distorting effect on EWT, which can lead to

inaccurate accounts of the witnessed account. This was most certainly

true in the study carried out, most participants gave a higher

estimation of speed when the word in the critical question was changed

from bumped to crashed, although a small number of participants were

unable to estimate any speed at all. However the experiments were

carried out by untrained experimenters which could explain possible

confounding variables in the way that the experimenters could have

unknowingly in their over-zealousness to prove the experimental

hypothesis may have led participants by using tone of voice, facial

expressions ect to respond accordingly.

Studies into ways of improving the reliability of EWT to help prevent

convicting innocent people, it is essential that steps are taken to

improve the reliability of eyewitness accounts. EWT has considered

hypnosis in an attempt to access repressed memories, a study whether

hypnosis increased participant's accuracy of recall by Putman {1979}

concluded participants were more suggestible in the hypnotic state and

are therefore, more easily influenced by the leading questions,

however further research into t...

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...roup to the person seen, say committing a

crime.

Witnesses often remember more details of the crime than the criminal,

reconstructing the crime will often jog their memories of the

criminal.

When considering interview techniques witnesses should be asked to

free recall and avoid being asked leading questions, avoid encouraging

guessing, as it may consolidate a false memory. Evidence from EWT is

not enough on its own and needs to be backed up with other kinds of

evidence such as forensic or medical. A study by Yuille & Cutshall

{1986} studied witnesses who had seen real crimes; they were accurate

in recalling main events but could be misled by questions about

peripheral incidents. People in general, but police officers in

particular, could benefit from training in EWT and some knowledge of

associated biases.