Self-study
P1
Leading questions—questions worded in such a way as to suggest a particular answer—can yield unreliable testimony either by design, as when a lawyer tries to trick a witness into affirming a particular version of the evidence of a case, or by accident, when a questioner unintentionally prejudices the witness's response. ███
Problem ·
Leading questions
Can produce unreliable testimony.
Solution ·
Judge can disallow leading questions in the courtroom
Problem ·
Leading questions outside the courtroom
A witness's beliefs can be affected by leading questions asked by lawyers, police, reporters, or others before the witness gets in the courtroom.
P2
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Details of problem ·
New "facts" that don't conflict with memories can become part of memories
If the new "facts" correspond with our memory, they'll be interpreted as reinforcing our memory. If the new "facts" involve a gap in our memory, we may use them to fill in the gap.
Example ·
"How fast was the car going when it passed the stop sign?"
The witness may not have seen a stop sign, but when asked this question, may falsely recall seeing one.
P3
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Details of problem ·
Farther removed from event, more tangential detail -> higher chance new "fact" blends with original memory
Significance of problem ·
Tangential details can be critical in the courtroom
Example: Suspect's shirt color or hairstyle might be tangential to witness of robbery. But these are critical to identifying the correct suspect. These kinds of details are exactly the kind susceptible to influence from leading questions.
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
26.
It can be most reasonably ████████ ████ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ██████ █████ ████ ███ ██████ ███████ █████████ ██ ███ ███████
a
have produced some ██████████ ████████ █████████ ███ ██████ ██ █████ ████████ ██ ████████ ████████████ ██ ██████ ███████
There’s no evidence the studies produced anything “unexpected.” The author doesn’t comment on what we expected the studies to show and how what they showed is different from what we expected.
b
shed new light ██ █ ████████████ ██████████ ███████████ ██ ███ ███
The issue of leading questions outside the courtroom isn’t a “longstanding procedural controversy.” We have no evidence that there has been any controversy about allowing leading questions outside the courtroom. Although there are procedures in place for disallowing leading questions in the courtroom, we have no indication there are any procedures related to leading questions outside the courtroom.
c
may be of ███████████ ████████ ███████ █████ █████████ ██████ ███ ████████████ ████████
The author doesn’t suggest the findings of the studies are “tentative” or “inconclusive.” She indicates only belief in the studies’ results and doesn’t suggest those results might be flawed or subject to question.
d
provide insights into ███ ███████ ██ ███████ █████████ █████ ██ █████████ ██████████ █████████
We have no reason to think the author believes the studies in P2 are related to logically fallacious reasoning. The studies provide findings about the effects of new data suggested in leading questions.
e
should be of ████ ████ ████████ ████████ ████████ ██ ███ █████ ██████████
Supported, because the author believes leading questions outside the courtroom can have “