| NCJ Number: |
204951  |
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| Title: |
Influence of Courtroom Questioning Style on Actual and Perceived Eyewitness Confidence and Accuracy |
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| Journal: |
Legal and Criminological Psychology Volume:9 Issue:1 Dated:February 2004 Pages:83-101 |
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| Author(s): |
Jacqueline M. Wheatcroft; Graham F. Wagstaff; Mark R. Kebbell |
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| Date Published: |
February 2004 |
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| Page Count: |
19 |
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| Publisher: |
http://www.ingentaselect.com/bpsoc/browse.htm |
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| Type: |
Report (Study/Research) |
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| Format: |
Article |
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| Language: |
English |
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| Country: |
United Kingdom |
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| Annotation: |
This article reports on two British studies that examined the
influence of attorney questioning style in the courtroom on
actual and perceived eyewitness confidence and accuracy.
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| Abstract: |
One study investigated the effects of questioning style on
witness confidence and accuracy, and the second study analyzed
observers/jurors perceptions of witness confidence and accuracy.
In the first study 60 subjects observed a video event, after
which they were individually interviewed about the event under
3 conditions: a simple questioning style; a questioning style
that contained leading and suppositional phrases typical of an
attorney in the courtroom; and a negative feedback style typical
of cross-examination questioning in the courtroom. This study
showed that witnesses were significantly less accurate in their
responses to "difficult" questions when subtle feedback was used
during the attorney-type questioning compared with a simple
control interview. This suggests that the feedback in
attorney-type questions tends to confuse witnesses, reducing
their ability to check their memories and critique discrepancies.
Although witness confidence was somewhat undermined when subtle
feedback was involved, witness accuracy was significantly
affected only when the leading questions were accompanied by
negative feedback. In the second study, participant
observer/jurors were 19 males and 41 females drawn from an
opportunity sample of university students. None had participated
in the first study. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of
3 conditions: "control" (n=20); "lawyerese" (n=20); or
"lawyerese with negative feedback" (n=20). Participants in each
of the three conditions heard audiotapes of voices reading from
the transcripts of two witness interviews; one involved a "good"
witness, and the other a "poor" witness. Findings show that the
listeners were most affected by the negative feedback style,
judging the witness overall to be less accurate. An unexpected
finding was that, regardless of questioning style, hearing the
testimony of the least confident witness first apparently
spuriously boosted listeners' perceived witness' confidence and
thereby perceived accuracy of the testimony. No significant
effects were found for perceived fairness. These results
generally support the belief that the "lawyerese" style of
questioning for the purpose of gaining actual and perceived
accurate testimony is unreliable. Suggestions are offered for
future research in this area. 3 figures and 68 references
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| Main Term(s): |
Court procedures |
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| Index Term(s): |
Cross-examination; Direct examination; Eyewitness memory; Eyewitness testimony; Jury decisionmaking; Witness credibility |
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To cite this abstract, use the following link:
http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=204951 |
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