Classic Evidence - Loftus And Palmer

Question 1

What approach was this for ?

Answer 1

• cognitive approach

Question 2

What did loftus aim to investigate ?

Answer 2

• the effect of leading of questions on the estimate of speed
• this was because estimate of speed were selected because people are quite poor at judging the numerical details of traffic accidents such as speed and distance
• therefore would be more easily affected by leading questions

Question 3

How did loftus and palmer define a leading question?

Answer 3

• a question that ‘either by its form or content, suggests to the witness what answer is desired’

Question 4

Methodology

Answer 4

• consisted of 2 experiments conducted in a laboratory using independent group designs
• each experiment was conducted with a different set of participants all collected from the university of Washington
• the IV was the verbs of the question
• the DV was the speed reported by the pts
• experiment 1 was 45 students
• experiment 2 was 150 students

Question 5

Procedure - experiment 1

Answer 5

• the sampling technique was opportunity sampling - students taken from the university of Washington
• participants were shown seven different clips ranging from 5-30 seconds in random order
• after each clip, participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire on what they saw
• specific questions were asked including the question “about how fast were the car going when they (using the critical verbs) smashed, collided, hit, bumped and contacted each other”

Question 6

Procedure - experiment 2

Answer 6

• the aim was to investigate whether leading questions bias a persons response or alter the memory stored
  PART1 :
• pts watched a film of multiple car crashes - which lasted less than 4 seconds
• pts were then asked the critical questions of speed
• pts were split into 3 groups
• group 1 were asked how fast were the cars going when they smashed?
• group 2 were asked how fast were the cars going when they hit?
  Group 3 was the control group and exposed to any questions
  PART 2:
• a week later , pts returned for further questioning.
• they’re asked the critical question ‘did you see any broken glass’
• there was non but depending the the speed the cars were travelling by, some would expect to see glass