Some experimental influences of lawyers' complicated questions on eyewitness confidence and accuracy

Eyewitness evidence and the confidence the eyewitness expresses in such evi dence are crucial in many criminal trials. The present study is an examinat ion of the influence of confusing questions often used by attorneys to exam ine witnesses in court. Participants viewed a videotaped incident and were questioned about the incident 1 week later. Half the participants were aske d questions framed in a confusing form; the remaining half were asked the s ame questions in straightforward language, Confusing questions reduced the participant witnesses' accuracy and suppressed the confidence-accuracy rela tionships compared with the condition in which simple questions were asked. However, the number of absolutely sure responses was the same in both cond itions, although these responses were almost always accurate in the simplif ied condition, whereas in the confusing question condition, accuracy was co mparatively poor. This experiment demonstrates the importance of ensuring t hat lawyers ask witnesses simple, clear questions.