Ch 15: Social Psych in Court

Part 2: Apr. 8, 2015

• Stages of memory that affect eyewitness ID– Acquisition, Storage, Retrieval

• 2) Storage:– Post-event info may be incorporated…

– Loaded questions & the misinformation effect:• Loftus’ research:

• What is the misinformation effect?– Car accident experiment –

– Wording experiment (‘hit’ vs. ‘smashed’)

– Source monitoring error –• Linked to false memories – how does it happen?• Confusion over source of info

• Relying on ‘script’ to reconstruct our memory– Ex.?

• 3) Retrieval –– Lineup format: (Gary Wells’ research):• How to best construct lineups?

– Similarity of lineup to witness description –

– Sequential or simultaneous lineups?

– Instructions to eyewitnesses?

• What is a good sign of eyewitness accuracy?

• Problems w/lineup in Jennifer Thompson case-

• Possible solution? Cognitive Interview– What is the focus on?

– How does it work?

– Effects on memory retrieval?

Interrogations

• Social influence & false confessions– Who is most likely to give false confessions?

– Situational variables linked to false confessions:• Compliance:

• Internalization: