Purpose. This study examined how simple procedures can lead eyewitnesses to behave in a manner compliant to those held in authority. It was hypothesized that eyewitnesses will alter their responses to questions if they think that an authority figure (in this case the experimenter) sees them as unhelpful and/or unobservant. Methods. The experiment had a repeated measures design in which a participant's eyewitness ability was measured before and after being labelled a ‘good’ or ‘poor’ eyewitness. Participants watched a short video clip and were then asked specific questions regarding what they had just witnessed. After watching a second similar video, participants were labelled as either ‘good’ or ‘poor’ eyewitnesses. Forty undergraduate university students took part in the study. Results. Results confirmed that those participants who had received a negative label (‘poor’ eyewitness) altered their original responses and submitted to leading questions, whereas those who had received a positive label (‘good’ eyewitness) actually improved their eyewitness observation scores. Conclusions. Results suggest that a simple manipulation by a figure perceived to be in authority can alter the responses of eyewitnesses.

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