AQA · A-Level · Psychology
Course version: 7182-2025 · Exams from 2027
Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: leading questions,…
Full specification wording
Memory: Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: leading questions, post-event discussion, and anxiety; the use of the cognitive interview.
Eyewitness testimony (EWT) accuracy is influenced by several factors.
Checked against the AQA 7182-2025 specification (opens in a new tab) on .
- Point 4 of 4
- 4 key terms
Study notes
From the checked teaching notes for this specification point.
The idea
Eyewitness testimony (EWT) accuracy is influenced by several factors. Leading questions suggest a desired answer; this causes response bias (altering the answer without changing memory) or substitution (altering the memory trace, e.g., Loftus and Palmer's 'smashed' increasing speed estimates). Post-event discussion causes memory contamination when co-witnesses converse. Anxiety has a complex effect: the Yerkes-Dodson law suggests moderate anxiety improves recall, but extreme anxiety impairs it (weapon focus effect). To improve EWT, police use the Cognitive Interview (CI): reporting everything, reinstating context, reversing order, and changing perspective. These disrupt schemas and provide multiple retrieval pathways, enhancing recall.
What earns the marks
- Explain how leading questions affect EWT through response bias (altering reporting) or substitution (altering the memory trace).
- Describe how post-event discussion reduces EWT accuracy due to memory conformity or source monitoring errors.
- Outline the inverted-U relationship between anxiety and EWT accuracy, noting optimal anxiety enhances recall.
- Identify and explain the four components of the cognitive interview: report everything, reinstate context, reverse order, change perspective.
- Explain the theoretical basis of the cognitive interview, such as context-dependent cues.
Common mistakes and how to put them right
Conflating substitution and response bias.
Put it right: Response bias affects answers, substitution alters the memory trace.
Oversimplifying anxiety's effect; correction: explain the Yerkes-Dodson inverted-U hypothesis where moderate anxiety improves recall.
Confusing cognitive interview components.
Put it right: Memorise the specific four techniques and avoid inventing steps.
Exam tips
- Use Loftus and Palmer's verbs to illustrate how leading questions affect memory reconstruction or response bias.
- Contrast the cognitive interview's effectiveness and time-consuming nature with standard police interviews.
Try the lesson
The start of the Memory: Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: leading questions, post-event discussion, and anxiety; the use of the cognitive interview. lesson, made from checked teaching notes for this specification point.
Have a go first
Which of the following is a key technique used in the cognitive interview to improve the accuracy of eyewitness testimony?
Listen
Eyewitness testimony (EWT) accuracy is influenced by several factors. Leading questions suggest a desired answer; this causes response bias (altering the answer without changing memory) or substitution (altering the memory trace, e.g., Loftus and Palmer's 'smashed' increasing speed estimates). Post-event discussion causes memory contamination when co-witnesses converse. Anxiety has a complex effect: the Yerkes-Dodson law suggests moderate anxiety improves recall, but extreme anxiety impairs it (weapon focus effect). To improve EWT, police use the Cognitive Interview (CI): reporting everything, reinstating context, reversing order, and changing perspective. These disrupt schemas and provide multiple retrieval pathways, enhancing recall. A strong answer earns marks for these points. Explain how leading questions affect EWT through response bias (altering reporting) or substitution (altering the memory trace). Describe how post-event discussion reduces EWT accuracy due to memory conformity or source monitoring errors. Outline the inverted-U relationship between anxiety and EWT accuracy, noting optimal anxiety enhances recall. Identify and explain the four components of the cognitive interview: report everything, reinstate context, reverse order, change perspective. A common slip: Conflating substitution and response bias. Instead, response bias affects answers, substitution alters the memory trace. Exam tip: Use Loftus and Palmer's verbs to illustrate how leading questions affect memory reconstruction or response bias.
Key words
Say what each word means before you turn the card.
Leading questions
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
Post-event discussion
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
Cognitive interview
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
Anxiety
Try answering aloud or in your head before turning the card.
See every definition
- Leading questions
- Questions that suggest a desired answer, which can affect testimony through response bias or substitution.
- Post-event discussion
- Discussion between co-witnesses that causes memory contamination.
- Cognitive interview
- A method used by police to improve eyewitness testimony through reporting everything, reinstating context, reversing order and changing perspective.
- Anxiety
- A factor with a complex effect on recall, where moderate anxiety improves it but extreme anxiety impairs it.
There is more to this lesson
The full lesson goes on to check your understanding and help you earn the marks. Create a free account to carry on, with your progress saved.
A week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge
Test your understanding of Memory: Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: leading questions, post-event discussion, and anxiety; the use of the cognitive interview.
Active recall beats re-reading. Take an instant quiz now to test what you’ve learned and lock it into long-term memory.
A week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge