Lesson 6.1.4

6.1.4 Factors affecting eyewitness testimony Quiz: Pearson Edexcel Psychology, Unit 6

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 6.1.4, Factors affecting eyewitness testimony: 20 multiple choice questions for the Pearson Edexcel Psychology (9PS0), Unit 6: Criminological psychology, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What term describes information encountered after an event that alters an eyewitness's memory?

    • Cognitive interview
    • Post-event information
    • Weapon focus
    • Yerkes-Dodson law

  2. What phenomenon causes eyewitnesses to focus on a threat, reducing memory for facial details?

    • Weapon focus effect
    • Cognitive interview
    • Hostile attribution bias
    • Post-event information

  3. What aspect of eyewitness testimony refers to its consistency over time?

    • Validity
    • Subjectivity
    • Accuracy
    • Consistency

  4. Which factor involves asking questions that suggest information a witness did not see?

    • Target identification
    • Leading questions
    • Cognitive interviews
    • Weapon focus

  5. In a study, a witness who sees a weapon remembers the weapon in detail but recalls little about the person's face. Which effect is shown?

    • Primacy effect
    • Recency effect
    • Weapon focus
    • Confirmation bias

  6. What term describes memory distortion caused by discussing a crime with co-witnesses?

    • Weapon focus
    • Confirmation bias
    • Post-event discussion
    • Cognitive overload

  7. What type of information alters memory when false details are suggested after an event?

    • Cognitive overload
    • Misleading information
    • Retroactive interference
    • Proactive interference

  8. What effect occurs when a witness focuses on a threat rather than offender details?

    • Weapon focus effect
    • Own-race bias
    • Confirmation bias
    • Halo effect

  9. What is the main methodological strength of conducting a field experiment on eyewitnesses?

    • High internal validity
    • High ecological validity
    • Complete variable control
    • High test-retest reliability

  10. What key ethical issue arises when staged crimes deceive unaware field experiment participants?

    • Sampling bias
    • Low ecological validity
    • Demand characteristics
    • Lack of consent

  11. What type of feedback inflates a witness's confidence without increasing their accuracy?

    • Weapon focus
    • Confirming feedback
    • Cognitive probing
    • Leading questions

  12. Which specific memory store is proposed to be updated when misleading post-event information is integrated?

    • Short-term memory
    • Working memory
    • Long-term memory
    • Sensory register

  13. What phenomenon describes greater accuracy when recognising faces of one's own ethnic group?

    • Own-race bias
    • Confirmation bias
    • Halo effect
    • Weapon focus effect

  14. What model explains why eyewitness memories change as new post-event details are added?

    • Working memory
    • Episodic memory
    • Multi-store memory
    • Reconstructive memory

  15. What type of variable is exposure duration when studying eyewitness memory accuracy?

    • Dependent variable
    • Control variable
    • Extraneous variable
    • Independent variable

  16. What practice prevents post-event information from contaminating a witness's memory?

    • Leading questioning
    • Group discussion
    • Immediate interviewing
    • Hypnotic regression

  17. A lineup has six people and the witness guesses at random. What is the chance of a correct identification?

    • About 50 per cent
    • About 6 per cent
    • About 17 per cent
    • About 33 per cent

  18. What key advantage do staged events offer researchers testing eyewitness memory accuracy?

    • Known true facts
    • Guaranteed consent
    • Total control
    • High stress levels

  19. What term describes reduced eyewitness accuracy caused by the presence of a knife or gun?

    • Own-age bias
    • Leading questions
    • Weapon focus
    • Post-event discussion

  20. Which cognitive interview component involves mentally recreating the original crime scene context?

    • Change perspective
    • Report everything
    • Reverse order
    • Context reinstatement

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