Questioning Style and Memory

Wednesday, 1st October 2014 – “Questioning Style and Memory”. Dr Joyce Humphries, from Edge Hill University Psychology Department, returned to talk about the findings from the study earlier this year in which quite a number of our members participated.

It was fascinating to hear the background to the study, and Joyce took us through a potted history of academic studies done to investigate the effect of cross-examination styles on whether witnesses changed their testimony between their first account and their performance in court. Most such studies had focused on the reliability of young people’s testimony, and the project at Edge Hill was to see if there was any difference between younger and older people in their propensity to change their statements under cross-examination.

Readers may be relieved to know that the results suggested there was no significant difference in this respect; younger witnesses were just as likely to change their minds as older people under cross-examination (irrespective of whether their first statements were accurate or inaccurate).

Visit to Springfields Nuclear Fuels

Thursday, 11th September 2014 – visit to Springfields Nuclear Fuel Manufacturing site, organised by Jack Brettle. A fascinating tour of the nuclear fuel plant near Preston, the visit gave us an insight into the complex and highly technical aspects of manufacturing fuel rods for various British nuclear power stations. Precision is important, as you might imagine, but the process still relies on people to correct any bends in the rods and make sure they are actually straight!

The visit was also notable for the extent of the security checks made by the operators of the site – we had to register with our passports or photo driving licences, and while we were having our bags searched, a security team was sweeping the coach to check for bad things – concealed weapons, I guess!