Consider what psychological research has told us about the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.
(c) "Eye witness testimony differs from many other aspects of memory in that accuracy is of much greater importance." Consider what psychological research has told us about the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (18 marks) L and P = Loftus and Palmer Pps = Participants EWT = Eyewitness testimony Despite the considerable importance juror's place on EWT, psychological research has shown that EWT tends to be unreliable. This unreliability can be explained in terms of the reconstructive nature of memory (schema theory). Introduced by Bartlett (1932), reconstructive memory refers to the extent to which memory is distorted or otherwise modified (reconstructed) by experience. In practice this means that instead of storing an exact replica of the episode they are witnessing, eyewitnesses may combine the initial stimulus with elements of their existing knowledge and experience (or schema) to form a reconstructed memory resulting in an inaccurate EWT account. Reconstruction is not the only source of distortion in EWT as the language used in leading questions and post-event information may further distort reconstructive memory and so lead to memory blending and confabulation. Research that has provided us with an insight into the effects of language and leading questions on the accuracy of EWT includes that of Loftus and her colleagues. For example, L & P (1974) found that
Define short-term memory and describe the main factors that influence the number of items recalled from short-term memory. Evaluate Nairne's theory relative to traditional theories, clearly stating your criteria for evaluation.
Define short-term memory and describe the main factors that influence the number of items recalled from short-term memory. Evaluate Nairne's theory relative to traditional theories, clearly stating your criteria for evaluation. Memory has always been an area of psychology to receive a great deal of attention. In 1890, William James [2], stated that there were two components to the human memory. He made the distinction between a 'primary' memory, now termed short-term memory and a secondary memory, now termed long-term memory. Eysenck and Keane (2002 [3]) state that the primary memory relates to information that remains in consciousness after it has been perceived and forms part of the psychological present. They then state that secondary memory contains information about events that have left consciousness and are therefore part of the psychological past (Eysenck and Keane 2002 [3]). In the 1960's a major debate surfaced about whether the short-term memory and long-term memory worked independently of each other or whether they were a part of the same unitary system. Many theories were developed on this basis and there is a great deal of evidence to support the fact that they work independently and have very separate functions. As a result of this debate, many researchers became interested in the concept of short-term memory. Through experimental evidence it became apparent
Describe and evaluate one alternative to the multistore model of memory
Describe and evaluate one alternative to the multistore model of memory The working memory model was proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974) as a way to represent short-term memory in terms of further subdivisions. It suggests that working memory consists of three components. These are the central executive, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad. The central executive is the component of working memory which is modality free (i.e. not visual or auditory). It is the most important component in the model and is responsible for monitoring and coordinating the operation of the slave systems. It is flexible, in that it can process information from any modality and also has some storage capacity, although this is very limited. It seems to play a major role in attention, planning and in synthesising information, not only from the slave systems but also from LTM. The phonological loop stores a limited number of sounds for brief periods and can be thought of as an inner ear. It is now thought to be made up of two components (Gathercole and Baddeley 1993). One component is the phonological store, which allows acoustically coded items to be stored for a brief period. The other component is the articulatory control system, which allows subvocal repetition of the items stored in the phonological store. The visuo-spatial scratch pad stores visual and spatial information and
Majority Influence
Outline and evaluate research (theories and/or studies) into majority influence (conformity) Conformity can be described as a major type of social influence and it means to follow a particular group or society. Deutsch and Gerard identified two main reasons that encourage people to conform. These are: . Informational Social Influence (ISI) - when we seek answers from others in the belief that they are more informed or have superior knowledge when unsure what to do in a situation. This is demonstrated in a study by Sherif. Sherif's study involved using a visual illusion whereby a spot of light seen in an otherwise dark room appears to move, this is known as the autokinetic effect. Sherif told participants that the light was going to move and they had to estimate how far they thought the light had moved. This can be criticised as being ambiguous as it is very difficult to distinguish exactly how far a light has been moved and there was no right or wrong answer. The participants were first tested individually, in which the results varied dramatically, they then heard the estimates of others. When the participants had heard the estimates of others, their estimates converged to that of others, they became more alike and a group norm developed. This demonstrates informational social influence as participants probably felt that other participants had better knowledge
"Discuss two theories of forgetting in LTM"
"Discuss two theories of forgetting in LTM" (18 Marks) Interference is when similar memories interfere and confuse each other. There are two types of Interference; Pro-active and Retro-active, Pro-active is when old memories interferes with or affects new memories, for example calling a new boyfriend by an old boyfriend's name. Retro-active is when new memories interferes or affects with old memories, for example you have to fill in a form and it asks you for your old phone number but you can only remember your new one. Interference does make cognitive sense because most people would agree that it is more difficult to recall similar material than dissimilar material, face validity. There are studies to show interference in the lab like the paired associate technique, were P's had to learn two lists, with the first word the same e.g. List A: Desk-Boy, List B: Desk-Tree. Then P's are given the first word in the pair and asked to recall the word in List A. The study found that Interference does cause forgetting but only when similar information is paired together, these conditions are rare in everyday life and this means that interference does not really explain most of forgetting in LTM. A criticism of the study is that Interference does not seem to occur with Experts, if you are an expert in a field then learning new information does not cause any interference in the old
Summary of Eyewitness Testimony and Improving Memory
Summary of Eyewitness Testimony and Improving Memory Eyewitness Testimony Eyewitness Testimony refers to an account given by people of an event they have witnessed. For example they may be required to give a description at a trail of a robbery or a road accident someone has seen. This includes identification of perpetrators, details of the crime scene etc. EWT can be influenced by lots of things, including leading questions, anxiety and age. The Reconstructive Nature of Memory is where we tend to encode only the 'bare bones' of an event. When we then recall information, we unconsciously 'flesh out' these bare bones using common sense and logic. Anxiety - witnessing a crime may make us anxious. Giving evidence as an eyewitness may make us anxious. High levels of anxiety have been found impair our ability to store and retrieve memories. Age - memories and the way that we use them change as we age. These three things influence child's testimony: suggestibility, language ability and memory processes. Cognitive Interview is one way to help people remember something accurately. It is based on two principles: Organisation and Context-dependency. Organisation - the way that memory is organised means that memories can be accessed in various ways. A series of actions can help - first you did this, then you did that and so on until you reach your memory. Context-dependency
Describe and Evaluate 2 Models Of Memory
Describe and Evaluate 2 Models Of Memory In this essay 2 models of memory will be described and compared. They are the Atkinson and Sniffrin model of memory, the Multistore model, and Crain and Lockhart model, the Levels of Processing Model. Models of memory are primitive diagrams of human memory to help understand the flow of information and how it is stored. In order to evaluate those 2 models appropriately it is important to understand how old they are. The Multistore Model of Memory by Atkinson and Shiffrin is a very primitive model although it does try to explain how the memory works quite well. It recognises 3 memory stores - the Sensory Memory Store, the short-term memory store and the long-term memory store. The environment makes available a variety of sources of information. The information comes in through the sensory system - through one of the five human senses. For a brief time it gets stored in the sensory memory store; 2 seconds for auditory and 0.5 second for visual information. It is an exact copy of the stimulus, although it lasts for a very short time. The experiment done by Sperling in 1960, where he showed a quick image to the participants and asked them to write the answers down, supports the theory of existence of the Sensory memory store, as participants could only remember 36% of the image on average. According to the model, if attention is paid to
Craik and Lockhart believed that depth is a critical concept for levels of processing theory.
Levels of Processing Theory Depth of Analysis Craik and Lockhart believed that depth is a critical concept for levels of processing theory. * The depth of processing of a stimulus has a substantial effect on its memorability, i.e. how well it is remembered. * Deeper levels of analysis produce more elaborate, longer lasting and stronger memory traces than do shallow levels of analysis. Craik (1973) defined depth as "the meaningfulness extracted from the stimulus rather than in terms of the number of analyses performed upon it". Rehearsal or repetition is not a form of deep processing because it only involves a repeated "number of analyses", and not and extraction of meaningfulness. Craik and Tulving used semantic processing to represent deep processing and the physical analysis to represent shallower processing. As the theory would predict, participants remembered those words that were deeply processed better than those processed shallowly. The findings of Hyde and Jenkins (1973) also support this theory. Elaboration Craik and Tulving's study also looked at how the elaboration of processing can lead to a greater recall. In a further experiment, the participants were presented on each trial with a word and a sentence containing a blank. They were then asked to decide whether the word fitted into the uncompleted question. Recall was twice as high for words accompanying
Outline & Evaluate the psychodynamic model of abnormality
Outline & Evaluate the Psychodynamic Model of Abnormality. Freud and others developed the psychodynamic model. It is the idea that conscious thoughts, feelings and behaviours are determined by unconscious processes, and that being mentally healthy requires a good balance between the id (desires), the superego (morality) and the ego (reality). This is reflected in the Theory of Personality explanation. The second explanation put forward for this approach is Psychosexual Development. It has five stages and these are Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genitals and are based on the idea that repressed problems often go back to childhood. Repressed desires or traumatic memories in the unconscious can upset the imbalance of the personality. The person develops psychological symptoms as a way of dealing with imbalances in the personality. Freud thought that childhood was very important for the development of personality and that all abnormal behaviours are linked to childhood. He developed five stages of Psychosexual Development. At each stage, Freud thought that the child's libido (lust) was focused on a particular body area. The libido refers to a type of life force energy. There are different ages associated with each stage. The Oral stage usually happens between the ages of zero and eighteen months. The focus of pleasure is the mouth e.g. eating and sucking on a dummy. Some
What effect does the order in which a testimony is presented have on persuading a jury?
Psychology Revision – Persuading A Jury Q3)a) What effect does the order in which a testimony is presented have on persuading a jury? (10) A3)a) The order in a which testimony is heard can have different effects on the jury’s verdict. One such study that investigates this is Pennington’s study on primacy effects. He studied the theory that because the minds of the jurors and all those present in the courtroom are more awake and interested in the trial’s beginning, than in the end when it is believe that the freshness and interest in the trail will have worn off. Because of the adversarial justice system used in UK courts, the jury have the final verdict of guilt or innocence on the accused. And because, in this system, the prosecution is heard first and the defence last, it can be assumed that the number of guilty verdicts heard under this system is greater than the number of innocent verdicts because the jury pay more attention to the case when the prosecution is heard. In the study conducted, Pennington used a mock jury with a group of participants who heard the prosecution first and the defence last, and another group who heard the defence first and the prosecution last. He measured the amount of guilty verdicts in each and found that there was a greater tendency to find the same defendant guilty in conditions that reflected a real adversarial system. This study
