PT121.S2.P4.Q24 > Analytics

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

24.

Which one of the following █████████ ██ ████ ████████ ████████ ██ ███████████ ██ ███ ████████

In witnessing what █████ ██ ██████ ███ ██████ ██████████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ █████████ ██ ██████████████ ████████

There’s no discussion of different kinds of crimes and the likelihood that people pay attention to details for each crime.

Which aspects of █████████ █████████████ █████ █████████ ██ ██ ██████████ █████████ ██ ███████ ██ █████████ ███████

There’s no discussion of what makes a witness “reluctant to testify.”

Can the stress ██ ██████ ██ ███████ ██ █ █████████ █████████ ██████ ███ ████████ ██ ██████ ███████ ███ ██████████

There’s no discussion of stress.

Do different people ████ ██ ███████ █████████ ██████████ ███ ███████████ ███████ ███████████

There’s no discussion of different people’s capacities for remembering details.

When is it ████ ██████ ████ █ ██████ ██ ██ ████████ █████ ████ ██ ██████████ ███████████

Answered. Details that are more tangential are less likely to be remembered accurately than details that are central.

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PrepTest 121 - Section 2 - Passage 4 - Question 24

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PrepTest 121 - Section 2 - Passage 4 - Question 24

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