The effect of confidence and method of questioning on eyewitness testimony.
Very often eyewitnesses are perceived as being accurate due to the confidence in the accuracy of their own testimony. The confidence displayed by an eyewitness may possibly be increased by the method of questioning used by legal professionals and police. The present study examines the confidence-accuracy relationship and the effect the method of questioning (open-ended versus closed-ended questions) may have on the confidence of eyewitnesses. The sample of 412 respondents consisted of scholars (11 to 14-year-olds), university students, the public and Police College students. A significant relationship between memory accuracy and confidence was found for more than 70% of the questions. Closed-ended questions provided a significantly higher rate of accuracy than open-ended questions. A significantly larger proportion of respondents to the closed-ended questions were more confident about their answers than those who responded to the open-ended questions.
Venter
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Centre for Psychology and Law, Department of Psychology, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
Louw
D A
DA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005104:Expert Testimony; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D013019:South Africa; D035502:Trust