The Impact of Scripts on Eyewitness Testimony

📚 Quick Study Guide

• 🧠 Scripts Defined: Scripts are mental frameworks about common sequences of events (e.g., going to a restaurant).
• 🤔 Impact on Memory: Scripts can lead to memory distortions, where individuals recall events that didn't actually happen but are consistent with the script.
• 🧑‍⚖️ Eyewitness Testimony: Script-based errors can significantly affect the accuracy of eyewitness accounts.
• 📝 Schema Theory: Scripts are a type of schema, influencing how we encode, store, and retrieve information.
• 💡 Leading Questions: Leading questions can activate specific scripts, further distorting memories.
• 📉 Reconstructive Memory: Memory is not a perfect recording; it's reconstructive, and scripts play a role in this reconstruction.
• 🕵️‍♀️ Real-World Implications: Understanding scripts is crucial in legal settings to evaluate the reliability of eyewitness testimony.

Practice Quiz

1. Which of the following best defines a 'script' in the context of memory?

   1. A. A written document used in court.
   2. B. A mental framework about a sequence of events.
   3. C. A set of instructions for conducting an experiment.
   4. D. A type of drug that affects memory.

2. How can scripts affect eyewitness testimony?

   1. A. By improving the accuracy of recall.
   2. B. By causing individuals to recall events that didn't happen.
   3. C. By having no impact on memory.
   4. D. By making testimonies inadmissible in court.

3. According to schema theory, what role do scripts play in memory?

   1. A. They prevent memory distortion.
   2. B. They help organize and interpret information.
   3. C. They erase old memories.
   4. D. They only affect procedural memory.

4. How might leading questions influence script activation?

   1. A. They prevent scripts from being activated.
   2. B. They can activate specific scripts, distorting memories.
   3. C. They have no effect on script activation.
   4. D. They only affect semantic memory.

5. What does it mean to say that memory is 'reconstructive'?

   1. A. Memory is a perfect recording of events.
   2. B. Memory is built from physical objects.
   3. C. Memory is pieced together and can be influenced by scripts.
   4. D. Memory only stores factual information.

6. Why is understanding the impact of scripts important in legal settings?

   1. A. To help witnesses remember more details.
   2. B. To evaluate the reliability of eyewitness testimony.
   3. C. To confuse the jury.
   4. D. To speed up the trial process.

7. Which of the following is an example of a script?

   1. A. Remembering a specific birthday party.
   2. B. Knowing the chemical formula for water ($H_2O$).
   3. C. Understanding the sequence of events when going to a restaurant.
   4. D. Recalling a random fact.