PSY 300 Lecture Notes - Unicycle, Field Experiment, Free Recall
Document Summary
Loftus (1974) examined 347 cases in which the only evidence was eyewitness testimony. Eyewitness errors are a prominent factor in wrongful convictions. Gathering info and putting it in a form that can be held in memory. Common sense factors can affect accuracy at the encoding stage. Super anxious (may not notice certain things) Hyman et al (2010) - a field experiment in which a brightly coloured down unicycle on campus. Only 8% of cell phone users noticed vs 57% of non-phone users. Occurs when there is a change in the visual field that the observer does not notice due to. Weapon focus effect: the presence of a weapon reduces witness accuracy. Eyes are drawn to the weapon, and less attention is on the culprit. Maass & konken (1989) the experimenter approaches the participants with either a pen or a syringe. More false ids in the syringe condition (66% false identification) vs pen condition (33%)
