Lesson 6.1.4

6.1.4 Factors affecting eyewitness testimony Quiz: Pearson Edexcel Psychology, Unit 6

20 questions

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Lesson 6.1.4, Factors affecting eyewitness testimony: 20 multiple choice questions for the Pearson Edexcel Psychology (9PS0), Unit 6: Criminological psychology, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What is meant by post-event information in eyewitness testimony?

    • A signed statement from a witness who was not present at the event but heard about it later
    • Information the witness gives to the police before the event, such as a description of a suspect
    • Information received after an event that can change a witness's memory of it
    • A written record of the event made at the time, kept by the witness in a personal diary or notebook

  2. What is the weapon focus effect?

    • Witnesses are better at identifying faces when a weapon is present, because the weapon makes the scene memorable
    • Weapons always increase the accuracy of eyewitness memory, because the threat makes people more alert
    • Attention drawn to a weapon reduces the witness's memory for other details, such as the face of the perpetrator
    • Witnesses remember weapons better than any other detail, so the weapon is the key clue in every case

  3. What does the term reliability mean in relation to eyewitness testimony?

    • The number of witnesses who agree with each other on a case, which shows how many people saw the event
    • The speed at which a witness can answer a question put to them during the police interview process
    • The extent to which a witness's account is consistent and can be trusted over time
    • The length of time the witness spends giving evidence in court, which shows how thorough they are

  4. Which factor can make eyewitness testimony less reliable?

    • Allowing the witness time to think before answering
    • Taking a detailed note of the witness's first account
    • Asking the witness to describe the event in their own words
    • Leading questions that suggest information the witness did not see

  5. In a study, a witness who sees a weapon remembers the weapon in detail but recalls little about the person's face. Which effect is shown?

    • Primacy effect
    • Recency effect
    • Weapon focus
    • Confirmation bias

  6. Why is a witness's memory of an event open to distortion after a discussion with others?

    • Discussion always makes memories more accurate, because two people checking each other removes errors
    • Memory cannot be changed after the event has happened, so later discussion has no effect on recall
    • Discussion affects only the witness's clothing choice, so their memory of the event is not changed
    • Information from others can be absorbed into the witness's own memory

  7. A witness is asked whether a car had a broken headlight, when none was present. The witness later says they saw one. Which process explains this?

    • Misleading post-event information altering the witness's memory
    • Random guessing with no effect on memory, which simply produces a wrong answer for the question
    • Accurate recall of a real detail that the witness saw clearly at the time of the event
    • Recall of a detail at the time of the event, which the witness noted and remembered for later

  8. Which factor could make a witness's testimony less reliable in a stressful situation?

    • Stress only affects the witness's ability to speak, not the accuracy of what they recall of the event
    • High stress can narrow attention and reduce the accuracy of memory for details
    • Stress has no effect on attention or memory, so the witness's account is equally reliable in all cases
    • High stress always improves memory for every detail, because the body is alert and records everything

  9. A field experiment in a real setting tests eyewitness identification. What is the main strength of this design?

    • It has high ecological validity because it takes place in a realistic setting
    • It guarantees that participants never know they are being studied
    • It removes all ethical concerns about participation
    • It makes the results generalise to every culture

  10. Which is an ethical issue in field experiments of eyewitness testimony?

    • Field experiments never require consent of any kind
    • Participants may be deceived or distressed, and must be debriefed
    • Participants are always paid a high fee in advance
    • Participants never experience any stress in the study

  11. Which factor affects eyewitness memory by making a witness more confident without making them more accurate?

    • Testing the witness after a short delay, which keeps the memory fresh and easy to check later
    • Using a neutral and open interview style, which allows the witness to describe the event freely
    • Post-event feedback or confirmation from an investigator
    • Accurate recall of the event from the start, which the witness reports consistently at every stage

  12. Which study design is most suitable for testing whether a leading question changes an eyewitness account?

    • A single case study of one witness in a trial, followed over time by a researcher in court
    • A review of the historical literature on witnesses, summarising the views of earlier writers
    • A content analysis of newspaper reports about crime, coding the way witnesses are described
    • A laboratory experiment with random allocation of participants to question types

  13. Which factor is often discussed as a reason why eyewitness identification may be less accurate across races?

    • The colour of the courtroom walls and the furniture used by the witnesses while they give evidence
    • The length of the trial in days and the number of hearings needed before a verdict is reached
    • The number of jurors in the case and how they are selected from the local electoral register
    • The own-race bias, where people recognise faces of their own race more accurately

  14. Why might a witness's account of a crime change between the first interview and the trial?

    • Memory is reconstructed, so later information and discussion can alter it
    • The first interview is always inaccurate by definition, because the witness has not yet settled
    • Memory is a perfect recording that never changes, so the first account is always the accurate one
    • Witnesses are always lying at the trial, so their later accounts can never be trusted in court

  15. A researcher reports that a witness recalled a face more accurately when the event was short. Which statement is the best interpretation?

    • Short events always produce perfect memory, because the witness has less time to become confused
    • Longer exposure may give the weapon or other details more attention, but the result alone does not prove the link
    • Long events never affect any form of memory, since the witness is always able to recall all details
    • Witnesses always forget faces within a day, so any identification made later is almost always wrong

  16. Which measure would best improve the reliability of a witness's testimony in a real case?

    • Recording the first account as soon as possible, before post-event information can contaminate it
    • Waiting several years before the witness gives any account, so that the details can settle in the mind
    • Asking the witness only closed questions with yes or no answers, so the answers are easy to record
    • Showing the witness a suspect photograph before recall, so they can confirm the person they saw

  17. A lineup has six people and the witness guesses at random. What is the chance of a correct identification?

    • About 50 per cent
    • About 6 per cent
    • About 17 per cent
    • About 33 per cent

  18. Why do researchers test eyewitness accuracy using staged events?

    • Staged events remove the need for any ethical approval, since the participants are not really harmed
    • The researcher knows the true facts, so the accuracy of the witness's account can be measured
    • Staged events always produce the same memories in every witness, which makes the results easy to compare
    • Staged events are cheaper, so the results are always more reliable than those from real events

  19. Which is the strongest evaluation of the claim that eyewitness testimony is unreliable?

    • Laboratory findings prove that every real witness is unreliable, whatever the conditions of the crime
    • Laboratory findings are irrelevant because real trials differ in every way, so no lesson can be drawn
    • Eyewitness testimony is reliable in every case regardless of conditions, so the research is not needed
    • Laboratory findings show unreliability under controlled conditions, but generalising to real trials needs field evidence

  20. Which technique could a witness use to improve the accuracy of recall?

    • Trying to remember only the most dramatic moment of the event
    • Mentally reinstating the context of the original event before recalling it
    • Accepting the interviewer's suggestion of a detail
    • Repeating the first answer many times to fix it in memory

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