What does this all mean?









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People are very likely to change their responses after speaking with a partner but not necessarily due to the desire to fit in. A lot of participants attributed their changed responses to not being observant enough to notice it- “I didn't see that but I probably wasn't paying attention to that part.” People seemed to change more due to confidence levels or thinking their partner was more reliable than themselves rather than the desire for acceptance by their partner. This could be due to the fact that the participants wrote down their answers individually so they were blind to what the other was saying, this could have given them comfort in knowing that their partner would not judge what they had written.

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                           What does this mean for the future?



 













​Procedures to minimize witness contact should be implemented so there is less information transfer after they witness a crime. I found that most of the changes were due to speaking with their partner rather than forgetting details and trying to create recreate them. Separating witnesses as soon as possible after they see a crime could reduce or even eliminate the amount of information they share making their testimony more accurate.

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                                           Further research?













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Since my sample size was only 32, there is a chance that using more and varied participants will be more generalizable and even show significance. That would be the first change I would make about my study I also think it would be worthwhile to do this study but compare different age groups as well. Some age groups are more naturally influenced by their peers than others so they might be more likely to change their reported details.