2.5: Misleading information

Question 1

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks)

Answer 1

Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions

Question 2

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
What was the method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment?

Answer 2

The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes

Question 3

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, what happened?

Answer 3

After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire

Question 4

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
What was there?

Answer 4

There was one critical question

Question 5

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to do what?

Answer 5

There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles

Question 6

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
How many conditions were there?

Answer 6

There were 5 conditions

Question 7

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with how many participants in each condition?

Answer 7

There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition

Question 8

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying how?

Answer 8

There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question

Question 9

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - What?

Answer 9

There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’

Question 10

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
What were then recorded?

Answer 10

Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded

Question 11

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), what was the mean estimate of speed?

Answer 11

For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h

Question 12

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas what?

Answer 12

For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h

Question 13

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h.
What does this suggest?

Answer 13

This suggests that leading questions do affect the accuracy of eye witness testimony to atleast some extent

Question 14

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h.
This suggests that leading questions do affect the accuracy of eye witness testimony to atleast some extent.

However, what?

Answer 14

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task

Question 15

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h.
This suggests that leading questions do affect the accuracy of eye witness testimony to atleast some extent.

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task (doing what?)

Answer 15

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task (watching videos)

Question 16

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h.
This suggests that leading questions do affect the accuracy of eye witness testimony to atleast some extent.

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task (watching videos) and as such what?

Answer 16

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task (watching videos) and as such lacks relevance to real-life eyewitness testimony scenarios

Question 17

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h.
This suggests that leading questions do affect the accuracy of eye witness testimony to atleast some extent.

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task (watching videos) and as such lacks relevance to real-life eyewitness testimony scenarios.
Therefore, what?

Answer 17

Therefore, it has low ecological validity

Question 18

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h.
This suggests that leading questions do affect the accuracy of eye witness testimony to atleast some extent.

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task (watching videos) and as such lacks relevance to real-life eyewitness testimony scenarios.
Therefore, it has low ecological validity, why?

Answer 18

Therefore, it has low ecological validity, because it was carried out in a highly controlled environment

Question 19

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h.
This suggests that leading questions do affect the accuracy of eye witness testimony to atleast some extent.

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task (watching videos) and as such lacks relevance to real-life eyewitness testimony scenarios.
Therefore, it has low ecological validity, because it was carried out in a highly controlled environment, and what can we not do?

Answer 19

Therefore, it has low ecological validity, because it was carried out in a highly controlled environment, and we cannot generalise these findings

Question 20

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h.
This suggests that leading questions do affect the accuracy of eye witness testimony to atleast some extent.

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task (watching videos) and as such lacks relevance to real-life eyewitness testimony scenarios.
Therefore, it has low ecological validity, because it was carried out in a highly controlled environment, and we cannot generalise these findings.
Although the study what?

Answer 20

Although the study can be replicated to check the results

Question 21

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h.
This suggests that leading questions do affect the accuracy of eye witness testimony to atleast some extent.

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task (watching videos) and as such lacks relevance to real-life eyewitness testimony scenarios.
Therefore, it has low ecological validity, because it was carried out in a highly controlled environment, and we cannot generalise these findings.
Although the study can be replicated to check the results and so is what?

Answer 21

Although the study can be replicated to check the results and so is high in reliability

Question 22

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h.
This suggests that leading questions do affect the accuracy of eye witness testimony to atleast some extent.

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task (watching videos) and as such lacks relevance to real-life eyewitness testimony scenarios.
Therefore, it has low ecological validity, because it was carried out in a highly controlled environment, and we cannot generalise these findings.
Although the study can be replicated to check the results and so is high in reliability, what?

Answer 22

Although the study can be replicated to check the results and so is high in reliability, participants’ answers may be due to demand characteristics

Question 23

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h.
This suggests that leading questions do affect the accuracy of eye witness testimony to atleast some extent.

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task (watching videos) and as such lacks relevance to real-life eyewitness testimony scenarios.
Therefore, it has low ecological validity, because it was carried out in a highly controlled environment, and we cannot generalise these findings.
Although the study can be replicated to check the results and so is high in reliability, participants’ answers may be due to demand characteristics, rather than what?

Answer 23

Although the study can be replicated to check the results and so is high in reliability, participants’ answers may be due to demand characteristics, rather than genuine changes in memory

Question 24

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h.
This suggests that leading questions do affect the accuracy of eye witness testimony to atleast some extent.

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task (watching videos) and as such lacks relevance to real-life eyewitness testimony scenarios.
Therefore, it has low ecological validity, because it was carried out in a highly controlled environment, and we cannot generalise these findings.
Although the study can be replicated to check the results and so is high in reliability, participants’ answers may be due to demand characteristics, rather than genuine changes in memory.
What may participants have just done?

Answer 24

Participants may have just given the answers they thought the researchers wanted

Question 25

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h.
This suggests that leading questions do affect the accuracy of eye witness testimony to atleast some extent.

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task (watching videos) and as such lacks relevance to real-life eyewitness testimony scenarios.
Therefore, it has low ecological validity, because it was carried out in a highly controlled environment, and we cannot generalise these findings.
Although the study can be replicated to check the results and so is high in reliability, participants’ answers may be due to demand characteristics, rather than genuine changes in memory.
Participants may have just given the answers they thought the researchers wanted, as suggested by what?

Answer 25

Participants may have just given the answers they thought the researchers wanted, as suggested by the verb they heard in the key question they were asked

Question 26

Outline and evaluate research into the effects of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony (8 marks).
Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted 2 experiments into the extent to which participants’ estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents witnessed on video could be influenced by misleading questions.
The method and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment was that 45 university students were each shown 7 video clips of car crashes.
After each video, they wrote an account of what they could recall and answered a specific questionnaire.
There was one critical question, being to estimate the speed of the vehicles.
There were 5 conditions, with 9 participants in each condition and the conditions varying by which verb was used in asking the key question - ‘Contacted’ , ‘hit’ , ‘bumped’ , ‘collided’ and ‘smashed’.
Participants’ estimates of speed were then recorded.
For the verb of ‘contacted’ (the lowest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 31.8 m/h, whereas for the verb of ‘smashed’ (the highest-intensity verb), the mean estimate of speed was 40.8 m/h.
This suggests that leading questions do affect the accuracy of eye witness testimony to atleast some extent.

However, it is a laboratory experiment centred on an artificial task (watching videos) and as such lacks relevance to real-life eyewitness testimony scenarios.
Therefore, it has low ecological validity, because it was carried out in a highly controlled environment, and we cannot generalise these findings.
Although the study can be replicated to check the results and so is high in reliability, participants’ answers may be due to demand characteristics, rather than genuine changes in memory.
Participants may have just given the answers they thought the researchers wanted, as suggested by the verb they heard in the key question they were asked.
Therefore, what?

Answer 26

Therefore, the results may not be trustworthy