Was there evidence of the misinformation effect (ala Elizabeth Loftus) in the eye witnesses?
The misinformation effect is the tendency for ones memory to be altered by post-event information. Our schemas and stereotypes can also influence how we interpret ambiguous events because they help us fill in the missing information with our expectations. Remember that Joseph Sweeney (the old man), did not accuse either of the eye witnesses of lying. He said that these people believed they saw the boy commit the crime. In other words, they somehow misremembered what they saw and heard. Thus, they probably witnessed an ambiguous event and filled in the missing information with details that were prescribed by their own stereotypes of slum kids. In addition, the police officers and lawyers who interviewed the witnesses may have planted false memories in them by asking leading questions. In either case, these people probably believed that they saw the boy at the scene of the crimebut this was probably due to the misinformation effect. 7. Were there any examples of the fundamental attributi
