Imagine that you are an expert witness testifying in court regarding the accuracy of eyewitnesses. In this context, explain the misinformation effect and how it might lead an eyewitness to incorrectly recall the details of an event. Apply your response to an original example. .
Sample Solution
The misinformation effect is a phenomenon in which an eyewitness’s recollection of an event is distorted due to the introduction of postevent information. This postevent information can be false memories, leading to inaccurate recall, or simply incorrect details that are suggested by others and then accepted as true. For example, let’s say an eyewitness was asked to recall the events of a car crash he had witnessed. If another witness told him that they remembered seeing a yellow car involved in the crash, even though it was actually red—the first witness may incorrectly remember seeing a yellow car at the scene when questioned later. The misinformation effect has been shown to occur even when unintentional prompting cues are provided by interviewers asking leading questions about an event or subtly suggesting what might have happened during it.
Sample Solution
The misinformation effect is a phenomenon in which an eyewitness’s recollection of an event is distorted due to the introduction of postevent information. This postevent information can be false memories, leading to inaccurate recall, or simply incorrect details that are suggested by others and then accepted as true. For example, let’s say an eyewitness was asked to recall the events of a car crash he had witnessed. If another witness told him that they remembered seeing a yellow car involved in the crash, even though it was actually red—the first witness may incorrectly remember seeing a yellow car at the scene when questioned later. The misinformation effect has been shown to occur even when unintentional prompting cues are provided by interviewers asking leading questions about an event or subtly suggesting what might have happened during it.
