Revision: memory

Short and Long term memory are different in 3 ways: duration, capacity,
encoding

Duration
A measure of how long a memory lasts before it is no longer available to
recall.

STM duration: Peterson and Peterson (1959)

1) Participants presented with consonant trigram
2) Had to recall after interval of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 or 18 seconds
3) Asked to count backwards in threes to stop them rehearsing
4) Results: Participants could remember about 90% of trigrams after 3
seconds, 2% after 18 secs
5) Conclusion: The maximum STM duration is about 20 seconds.

Long term memory duration- potentially a lifetime.

Bahrick et al (1975)
Tested how well American high school graduates could remember their
former classmates
Results: Even after 48 years, when asked to link names and faces, accuracy
was at about 70%.
Conclusion: 30-50 years on participants were still able to remember their
classmates. Shows LTM can last a lifetime.

Capacity
-Measure of how much information can be held in memory.

Capacity of the STM

Jacobs (1887): developed the digit span techniques/serial digit recall. Have
to repeat back string of digits. One digit continually added until string cannot
be repeated.
Results: On average 9 digits and 7 letters were correctly recalled.

Miller (1956) reviewed all literature and concluded max capacity of STM is
72 items. Can recall more items by chunking information.

Encoding
How is information changed so it can be stored in the memory. Research has
shown that information is mainly encoded acoustically in STM and mainly
semantically in LTM.

The multi-store model (Atkinson and Shiffrin)

Describes the memory in terms of3 stores.
Information first enters the sensory memory from the environment.
Held there for max of 1 second.
If attention paid to the information it enters STM (otherwise decays)

1
 Information stays in STM through rehearsal
If rehearsed enough moves to LTM (if not- it decays).

Strengths:

1) Can explain primacy and recency effects. Glanzer and Cunitz

(1966):
Found words at the beginning and end of a list of about 20 words are best
recalled. Words in the middle are recalled least well- this produces what is
called a serial position curve. Words at beginning- rehearsed so in LTM,
words at end- still stored in STM.
2) Case studies like H.M support the idea that STM and LTM are
separate. Lost LTM, STM still intact.

Weaknesses of the multi-store model:

1) Idea all information needs to be rehearsed to move in the LTM is

an oversimplification- doesnt take into account that information more
relevant to our lives, or of emotional significance is far easier to remember.
Distinction now made between maintenance (just repeating things) and
elaborative (deeper, meaningful) rehearsal. Elaborative more important.

1) Evidence suggests that the STM and LTM are not single stores.
STM can be divided up into at least 2 components: one for visual information
and another for auditory information (supported by K.F). LTM- can be divided
in
Semantic, Episodic and procedural memory.

The working memory (Baddeley and Hitch)

Focuses only on STM. Active space where tasks are carried out.
3 main components:
Central executive- has overall control, directs attention to a tasks,
decides which slave systems is needed.
Phonological loop. Stores and rehearses word-based information.
Subdivided into:phonological store and articulatory process.
Visuo-spatial sketchpad. Stores and rehearses visual and spatial
information

Strengths of the working memory model

1) It can account for dual-tasking- the fact that we can carry out 2 tasks
at once if one is auditory and one is visual.
2) It accounts for case studies like K.F. Selectively lost verbal STM, visual
still intact.

Weaknesses of the working-memory model :

2
 1) Exact role of the central executive remains unclear. It may consist of
separate components.
2. It doesnt explain how the phonological loop and visuo-spatial
sketchpad communicate .e.g. when tasks have a visual and auditory
component.

Eyewitness testimony

A misleading question is a question that suggests to the witness what answer

is desired, or leads him/her to the desired answer.

Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Part 1
Participants shown video of car accident.
Asked how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?
5 groups- verb was either hit smashed, bumped, collided or
contacted.
Results: smashed- highest estimated speed, contacted-lowest
Conclusion: smashed was misleading- suggested cars were going faster
than they really were.

Part 2
150 student participants- shown video of multi-vehicle car accident
3 groups- 1 control group, other 2- asked how fast the cars were going
when they hit/smashed into each other.
One week later, all participants returned and were asked if they saw
broken glass.
Results: participants in the smashed condition- more likely to say yes
(even though there was no broken glass).
Conclusion: smashed was misleading- suggested cars were going faster
than they really were and that there had been smashed glass.

Loftus and Zanni (1975)

Participants shown video of car accident.
Did you see a broken headlight- 7% of participants said yes.
The broken headlight- 17% of participants said yes.
There was no broken headlight.
Conclusion : the was misleading, and affected participants memory of the
event.

Weaknesses of lab studies into EWT (reasons why they lack validity)
1) Normally watching a video of an event- very different to watching a
real event in real time.
2) Watching a staged event on a video is not emotionally arousing.
Studies have shown small amount of anxiety increase accuracy.

3
 3) No consequences. In real life EWT may have serious consequences.
4) Risk of demand characteristics- participants may guess the aim of the
experiment and give answers they feel the experimenter wants to
hear.

Yuville and Cutshall (1986)

Interviewed 13 witnesses of a real crime 5 months after event.

Recall was found to be accurate, and two misleading questions had no
effect on recall accuracy.

Conclusion: suggests that misleading questions do not have the same

effect in real life compared to lab studies.

Factors affecting EWT

1) Anxiety

Yerkes-Dodson law: medium levels of anxiety increase accuracy by increasing

alertness, high levels decrease it.

Loftus and Burns (1982)

Participants shown video where boy was shot in the face.
Participants had poor recall of video
Argued high anxiety impaired memory.
Evaluation: distress, low ecological validity (video only)

The Weapon focus effect (Loftus)

Participants sat outside a laboratory and heard either a friendly
conversation followed by man leaving with pen, or argument followed
by man leaving with knife.
Had to identify the man on the basis of 50 photos.
Pen- 49% accuracy, knife- 33%.
Conclusion: Anxiety generated by the weapon diverted attention
away from the face of the man. This was called the 'weapon-focus
effect'.
Evaluation: distress, higher ecological validity and no risk of demand
characteristics, deception and therefore no informed consent.

Age of witness

Children and elderly remember fewer accurate details from an event

Children also more easily misled.

Children:

4
Poole and Lindsay (2001)
Children aged 3-8 years shown science demonstration.
Parents of the children read them a story containing some new
information.
Incorporated much of the new information into their original memory.
Some older children revised their account, but not younger children.
Conclusion: children do not give reliable EWT; their memories are easily
affected by information after the event.
Evaluation of study
Science demonstration- minimal risk of causing psychological harm,
however- very different to watching a crime, so cannot necessarily
apply these findings to EWT.
Possible that children didnt understand the instructions (rather than
their EWT being genuinely poor).
When using children in studies- must get consent from parents.

Flin et al (1992)
Interviewed children and adults 1 day and 5 days after they witnessed an
event.
Results: no difference in accuracy between children and adults after one day
but after 5 months- children less accurate.
Conclusion: children can provide accurate EWT but memory quickly decays
over time. Suggests children should be interviewed as soon as possible after
event.

Elderly

List (1986) found that compared to college students, elderly remembered

fewer details from shoplifting scenes. What they did recall- less accurate.

Valentine and Coxon (1997)

Method: 3 groups of participants (children, young adults and elderly)
watched video of a kidnapping. Asked a series of leading and non-leading
questions about what they had seen.
Results: Elderly people and the children gave more inaccurate answers to
non-leading questions. Children were misled more by leading questions than
adults or the elderly.
Evaluative points
Low ecological validity (only video), may cause distress, children too young
to give consent.
Shows police/judges need to take age in account when listening to EWT

The cognitive interview

Geiselman et al (1984)
Aims to increase the accuracy of witness recall of events through
cues.
Traditional standard police interviews- criticized for use lots of brief,
closed questions and frequent interruption.

5
 Four principles:
1) Context reinstatement
2) Report everything:
3) Recall in changed order:
4) Recall from changed perspective

Also: Minimise distractions, actively listen, pause after each response, avoid
interruption, avoid any judgmental comments.

Strengths:

1) Generates more detailed eye witness testimony.

Gieselman et al (1985) showed participants video of crime
Interviewed with either cognitive interview, standard police interview,
or hypnosis.
Cognitive interview generated more information.
A later meta-analysis of 53 studies found a 34% increase in correct
recall using CI compared with the standard interview.

2) Interviewees less affected by misleading questions

Gieselman et al (1986)
Staged situation, intruder enters and steals projector.
2 days later, participants questioned using either a standard interview
or cognitive interview.
Asked one misleading question
Results: participants in the cognitive interview condition were less
affected by misleading question.
Weaknesses

1) Many supporting studies- lab studies.

2) Time consuming
3) Requires extensive training

Mnemonics- a summary

Strategy Description Why it works

Acronynm Take the first letter of a list
of words to be learnt and
use to create a word/phrase.
Acrostic Take the first letter of a list
of words to be learnt and
use to create a
sentence/phrase .
Poems Creating a poem containing
the key information.
A word/phrase is easy to
remember. Each letter acts as a
cue for the target word.
Formation of acronym is a form
of elaborative rehearsal.
A sentence/phrase is easy to
remember. Each letter acts as a
cue for the target word.
Formation of acrostic is a form
of elaborative rehearsal.
Poems are easy to remember.
Humour/rhyme will make the

6
 Humour/rhyme can make it
more memorable.
Key word Creating a visual image
method combining 2 words that
need to be linked. Useful for
learning foreign vocabulary.
Spider diagram Put key topic in centre with
subtopics branching off. Add
key information branching
off subtopics.
Colour/pictures will make
diagram more memorable.
Method of loci When learning a list of key
words, each word can be
linked with a landmark on a
familiar journey.
poem additionally memorable.
Formation of poem is a form of
elaborative rehearsal.
Visual images tend to be
memorable, especially if
distinct/humorous. Will also
mean words are stored in 2
forms- visually and acoustically.
Formation of visual image is a
form of elaborative rehearsal.
Helps organise information
which will improve storage and
retrieval. Requires elaborative
rehearsal. Will also mean words
are stored in 2 forms- visually
and acoustically.
Can then mentally imagine
journey and each landmark will
act as a cue. Uses information
well stored in memory to help
remember new information.
Linking key words with
landmarks is a form of
elaborative rehearsal.

Research methods

Independent variable: what the experimenter is investigating/changing

Dependent variable: What the experimenter is measuring

These must be operationalised .e.g. precise and testable.

Extraneous variable: anything factors that could affect your results making
in harder to make a conclusion

Experimental methods

1) Laboratory experiments
Research carried out in a controlled way. Aim is to control all variables
and change only the independent variable.

Advantages
1. Control- the effects of extraneous
variables are minimized, so the
experimenter can be more confident
that is the independent variable
which has affected the dependent
variable.
2. Can easily replicate to test
Disadvantages
2. Lack of ecological validity- because
the setting is artificial experiments
may not be a reflection of real-life
behaviour.
2. Demand characteristics

7
 reliability.

Field Experiments

Behaviour is measured in a natural environment. The independent variable is

manipulated by the experimenter.

Advantages
1. Higher ecological validity, so they
relate better to real life.
2. Demand characteristics- these can
be avoided in a field study if
participants arent aware that theyre
in a study.
Disadvantages
1. Less control- it is harder to
minimize extraneous variables in a
field study, making it harder to come
to a conclusion.
2. Ethics- participants who didnt
agree to take part might experience
distress and cant be debriefed.

Natural experiments

-Studies the effect of variables that arent directly manipulated (caused) by

the experimenter. Experimenter is finding participants who already meet the
conditions of the experiment, rather than allocating participants to
conditions.

Advantages
1. Ethics- makes it possible to study
variables that it would be unethical
to manipulate
Disadvantages
1. Cant randomly allocate participants
to each condition, and so extraneous
variables may affect results.
2. Rare events-some groups of interest
are hard to find.

Naturalistic observation

Naturalistic observation- involves observing subjects in their natural

environment not interfering in any way with the participants.

Advantages Disadvantages
High ecological validity and no Observer bias and risk of
demand characteristics. misinterpreting behavior.
May not have informed consent.

Sampling techniques
Method
Random sampling
Every member of the group
has an equal chance of being
selected for the sample.
Opportunity sampling
Advantage Disadvantage
It is fair with everyone The researcher isnt
having an equal chance guaranteed a
of being selected. The representative sample.
sample is likely to be If the target group is very
representative large it isnt practical.
Quick, easy and Sample unlikely to be

8
The researcher samples
whoever is available and
willing to be studied.
Volunteer sample
People actively volunteer to
be in a study by responding
to a request for participants
advertised e.g. in a
newspaper
practical. representative of a target
group can cant necessarily
generalize.
If an advert is placed Sample is unlikely to be
somewhere prominent representative of the
e.g. a large number of general population.
people may respond,
giving more participants
to study.

Issues an experimenter must always be aware of:

1) Social desirability bias- participants want to present themselves in a

positive light.
1) Interviewer effects: interviewers expectations may lead them to ask
only questions about what they are interested in, or to ask leading
questions. Body language/tone of voice may affect answers.

Aims and hypotheses

Experimental aim: statement of a studys purpose

Null hypothesis: prediction that there will be no relationship between key

variables in a study .e.g. age will have no effect on maximum digit span.

The experimental hypothesis: predicts that a difference or an expected

relationship between 2 variables .e.g. age will affect maximum digit span.

Directional (one-tailed hypothesis): states the direction in which results

are expected to go. e.g. 17-18 years old will have a greater maximum digit
span than 9-10 year olds.

Non-directional hypothesis (two-tailed hypothesis): predict a

difference, but doesnt give a predicted direction .e.g. wouldnt say which
group would do better. .e.g. there is a difference in the maximum digit span
of 17-18 year olds and 9-10 year olds.

Experimental designs

Independent groups design:

This is where there are different participants in each group/condition.
Repeated measures design
This is where the same participants are used in each condition.
Matched-pair design
This is where there are different participants in each condition, but they are
matched on important variables (e.g. age, sex, IQ)

Advantages Disadvantages

9
Independent No order effects. Either: Differences between people in
groups design -getting better through each group may affect the
practice (learning effects). results e.g. one group may just
- getting worse through being happen to be composed of
bored or tired (fatigue individuals who have a better
effects) memory
Twice as many participants are
needed
Repeated Participant variables- because Order effects
measures the same people do the test
design in all conditions any
differences between
individuals shouldnt affect
results.
Fewer participants are
needed.
Matched pair No order effects because the Twice as many participants are
design same people are used in each required Practicalities: time-
condition consuming and can be difficult
Participants variables- to find participants who match.
important differences are
minimized through matching

The role of pilot studies

Should establish whether the design works, whether participants understand

the wording of instructions, whether something important has been missed
out and that any technology/equipment works effectively. Problems can then
be addressed before running the main study, which could save wasting time
and money.

Ethical issues in psychological research

1) Consent
Before a participant consents to taking part in an experiment they must be
fully informed i.e. should be told about the aim of the study and what it
involves.

2) Deception
No information should be withheld from the participants and they should not
be misled.

3) Debriefing
At the end of the study participants should always be informed about the
nature of the study and their reactions discussed.

4) Withdrawal
Participants have the right to withdraw from the experiment at any time even
if they were paid for their participation. This should be made clear to them at
the very beginning of the study.

10
 5) Confidentiality
If this cannot be assured this must be disclosed since all participants have
the right to it.

6) Protection of participants

Controlling the effects of extraneous variables

1) Counterbalancing:
By mixing up the order of the tasks this reduces the risk of order effects in
repeated measures designs. Half the participants do task one first, the other
half- task 2 first.

2) Standardized instructions

Reliability

Internal Reliability - internal consistency of a test/experiment e.g. in a

questionnaire testing aggression do participants get consistent scores
throughout the study. Can test with split-half method .i.e. split the
questionnaire in half and see if participants get similar scores in the two
halves.

External reliability if the experiment was repeated would the experimenter

gain the same results? This can be assessed using the test-retest method.

Inter-rater reliability- whether 2 observers or interviewers come to similar

conclusions. For example, do 2 observers agree on a childs attachment type?

Validity- is the experiment measuring/testing what it claims to be

measuring/testing?

Internal validity An experiment is high in internal validity if the

experimenter controls all extraneous variables so the only variable that can
affect the results of a study is the one being controlled by the researcher (the
independent variable). The more extraneous variables-the lower the validity.

External validity. Can the findings can be generalized.

Different types of external validity:
Ecological validity: can the findings be generalized to the real world.
Population validity: Can the findings be generalized to the wider
population (.i.e was the sample representative?)

Data analysis and presentation

Qualitative data- word based

Quantitative data- number based.

11
Measure of Description Advantages Disadvantages
central
tendency
Mean The statistical average Most sensitive measure Can be distorted by
of central tendency, extreme scores.
taking all the scores
into account.
Median The middle score after Unaffected by extreme Unlike the mean, only
the data is ordered. scores. takes one or two scores
into account- the middle
value(s).
Mode The most frequently Unaffected by extreme Only takes the most
occurring score. scores common score (which
may not be
representative) into
account.

Measures of dispersion: tells you how much variation in the data there is.
Range. Highest score minus lowest score
Standards deviation. Tells you how much variation there is from the
mean. Takes all data into account so most sensitive measure.

Correlational research: measure of the relationship between 2 variables

e.g hours of revision and performance is a test.

Advantages of correlations studies

1) Correlational research doesnt involve controlling any variables, it can
be used when, for practical or ethical reasons, a controlled experiment
is difficult or impossible.
2) Indicated that there may be a relationship between 2 variables which
may be investigated further through more controlled research.

Limitations of correlational studies

1) Cant establish cause and effect relationships- it can only show
theres a relationships.

Model essays

Outline and evaluate the multi-store model of memory

The multi-store model was by Atkinson and Shriffrin. They argued that the
memory can be divided into three stores. Information first enters the sensory
memory from the environment via the senses and it is held there for a
maximum of 1 second, until it decays or alternatively, if attention is paid to it,
it enters the short term memory (STM). The short term memory has a
capacity of 7+/-2 items only. It also has a short duration- approximately 20
seconds maximum unless information is rehearsed. If information is
rehearsed enough it will eventually moved into the long term memory (LTM),

12
which has an unlimited capacity. Information has the potential to stay in the
long term memory for a lifetime. It is mainly encoded here based on its
meaning, in contrast to the short term memory where information is mainly
encoded acoustically.

A strength of the model is that it argues that STM and LTM are separate. This
accounts for studies which show that the STM and LTM have different
capacities and durations.It also explains the case of H.M who had his
hiipocmapus removed to help treat his epilepsy. if you can lose your LTM but
have your STM still intact the 2 must be separate.
- Explains the primacy and recency effects- when given a lots of words,
individuals are more likely to remember words at the beginning of the
list (because theyve been rehearsed so moved into the LTM) and end of
the list (still circulating in the LTM).

1) Weaknesses of the model:

- Argues that information only moves from the STM to the LTM through
rehearsal. This is too simplistic. Elaborative rehearsal i.e.
understanding meaning and processing information on a deeper level
is far more important. Information being of relevance and/or evoking
strong emotional reactions also sometimes makes rehearsal
unnecessary.
- STM and LTM are not single stores- seem to be made up of multiples
stores. STM seems to be subdivided into visual and verbal STM.
Supported by case of K.F who selectively lost his verbal STM. People
with amnesia have selectively lost their episodic LTM.

Outline and evaluate the working memory model of memory

1) By Baddeley and Hitch, the working memory model focuses only on

short term memory which they argue is an active space where tasks
are carried out. Receives information from the senses and the LTM.
2) Argues the STM has 3 stores:
- Central executive: coordinates the working memorys activities.
Directs attention and decides which slave system should be allocated
the task.
- Phonological loop: stores and rehearses word-based information. Can
be divided into phonological store (which stores the information) and
the articulatory process (which rehearses the information)
- Visuo-spatial sketchpad: stores and rehearses visual and spatial
information.
All 3 stores have a limited capacity and duration.

3) Strengths of the model:

Makes a distinction between visual and verbal STM. This explains:
-The nature of dual-tasking: we can carry out a visual and verbal task at
the same time, but not 2 visual nor 2 verbal since both stores have a
limited capacity.
-The case of K.F- he selectively damaged his verbal STM.

13
 4) Weaknesses of the model:
- No scope for communication between the phonological loop and visuo-
spatial sketchpad which would be necessary for tasks with a visual and
verbal component.
- Role of central executive: vague.

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of

misleading questions

1) Many laboratory studies, especially those of Loftus have suggested

that eye witness testimony is unreliable in that peoples original
memories are easily altered by post-event information including
misleading questions.
2) Outline 2 studies which show this. Must outline the method, results
and state the conclusion.
3) However, most studies that would lead us to question eye witness
testimony reliability are lab studies with low ecological validity.
- Participants typically watch a staged incident on a video.
- Lower emotional arousal, with experiments suggesting that small-
medium anxiety increases accuracy.
- Lack of consequences.

Also, risk of demand characteristics

4) So, is eye witness testimony more reliable in real life? Refer to Yuille
and Cutshall (1986)s study- interviewed 16 people who had witnessed
an armed robbery 4 months after the event and included 2 misleading
questions. Participants were not affected by the misleading questions.

5) Conclusion: laboratory studies suggest eye witness testimony is

unreliable and affected by misleading information. However, in real
life, although eye witness testimony is not always accurate and is
vulnerable to alteration, this does not seem to be true to the extent
laboratory studies have suggested.

Outline and evaluate what studies have shown about the effect of anxiety on
EWT accuracy

1) Anxiety. Generally understood that small-medium amounts of anxiety

increase EWT accuracy but high amounts- decrease EWT.
2) Outline study by Loftus and Burns which showed that high anxiety
decreases EWT accuracy.
3) Evaluate the study- ethics (risk of psychological harm). Low ecological
validity (only watching video .etc.).
4) High anxiety may also be induced by presence of a weapon, leading to
the weapon focus effect.
5) Outline method, results and conclusion of Loftus study on the weapon
focus effect.
6) Evaluate the study- higher ecological validity and minimal risk of
demand characteristics (participants werent aware that the study had

14
 started), but participants deceived, fully informed consent not
obtained, and risk of psychological harm.
7) Conclusion- the accuracy of EWT can obviously be vitally important
and so taking into consideration anxiety is important in the analysis of
evidence when convicting potential criminals.

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of age on EWT accuracy

1) Although, it is generally thought that children and the elderly give the
least accurate EWT, the results of research into the effect of age on
EWT have infant been highly mixed.
2) Research generally suggests that children give least accurate eye
witness testimony and are easily misled.
3) Outline and evaluate study by Poole and Lindsay
4) However- Flin found that children can give accurate EWT if interwiewed
close to the time of the event.
5) Research also suggests that children will commonly misinterpret/not
understand questions when being interviewed.
6) Research- suggests the elderly recall less information from an event
Refer to study by List.
7) Some studies have also suggested that they are more likely to be
misled. However this was not found by Valentine and Coxon. Outline
and evaluate their study.
8) Weaknesses of research into the elderly and EWT accuracy

Outline and evaluate the cognitive interview.

1) Explain why the cognitive interview was developed.

2) Describe and explain 4 principles
3) Outline additional features of cognitive interview
4) Strengths of cognitive interview- obtains more accurate information.
Interviewees less likely to be affected by misleading question (refer to
studies)
5) Weaknesses of cognitive interview- time consuming/requires extensive
training/most supporting studies are lab studies.

Outline and evaluate studies into the effect of misleading questions (12
marks)

Many laboratory studies, especially those of Loftus, have suggested that

people are greatly influenced by misleading questions. In 1974 Loftus and
Palmer showed participants a video of car accident, and then asked a
question about the speed of the car on impact. One group of participants
asked, how fast were the cars going when they hit each other? Other
participants were asked the same question but the verb hit was replaced
with either smashed, bumped, collided or contacted. It was found that
when the word smashed was used the estimated speed was much higher,
and when the word contacted was used, the estimated speed was lowest

15
(even though all participants had seen the same video). In a follow up
experiment it was shown that using the word smashed led to more
participants incorrectly stating that they had seen smashed glass at the
scene of a car crash. It was concluded that the word smashed is misleading,
suggesting the cars were going faster than they really were. This suggests
people are easily affected by misleading questions.

In another study Loftus and Zanni showed participants a video of a car crash.
One group were asked if they had seen a broken headlight and the other
group if they had seen the broken headlight. Participants in the second
group were significantly more likely (17% as opposed to 7%) to inaccurate
recall seeing a broken light. This is presumably because the word the is
misleading and implies there was a broken headlight, when in fact there was
not.

However, most studies that would lead us to question eye witness testimony
reliability are lab studies with low ecological validity. In both the studies
described above participants were watching a staged incident on a video
which is very different from watching a live event. There is also no anxiety
which is significant because medium anxiety increases accuracy. Within a lab
setting the participants responses have limited consequences in contrast to
real life, where EWT has serious consequences. Finally, in lab stydies there is
a risk of demand characteristics .i.e. participants may have guessed the
study was about misleading questions and changed their answers to please
the experimenter.

Some studies have suggested that in real life, eye witnesses are not as easily
affected by misleading questions as lab studies suggest. For example, Yuille
and Cutshall (1986) interviewed 13 people who had witnessed a real armed
robbery. The interview took place 5 months after the event and included
misleading questions. In this instance participants were not affected by
misleading questions and stuck to their original account of the event.
Although this does not mean real eye witnesses will never be affected by
misleading questions, it does suggest that the findings of Loftus lab studies
should be accepted with caution.

16