PSYC 2400 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Eyewitness Testimony, Eyewitness Memory, Recognition Memory
5 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
Recall memory: the primary goal for the officer interviewing an eyewitness is to extract from the witness a complete and accurate report of what happened. Insufficient information may provide the officer with a few leads to pursue, resulting in a case that will not be solved. In this situation, the perp will remain free to commit further crimes. If inaccurate information is supplied, then an officer may pursue innocent suspects, thus reducing the likelihood that the guilty person will be caught. This type of question format uses a more superficial level of concentration than open-ended questions and tends to result in very short answers. Incorporating the number of demonstrators into the question posed to witnesses affected the number of demonstrators witnesses recalled seeing later: explaining the misinformation effect, with changes in the methodology, researchers have found support for guessing or experimenter pleasing.
