Eyewitness Testimony: Misleading Information Flashcards
what did Loftus and Palmer look at?
how EWT can be distorted
what did Loftus and Palmer use?
leading questions where certain answers is implied in the question
Loftus and Palmer: study name
looking into eyewitness testimony
Loftus and Palmer: study date
1974
Experiment 1 - Method: participants where shown
a film of a car crash
Experiment 1 - Method: after the film, they were
asked a series of questions
Experiment 1 - Method: what was the main question used?
how fast was the car going when they _____?
Experiment 1 - Method: verb used
hit smashed collided bumped contacted
Experiment 1 - Results: verb that caused the highest estimated speed
smashed (41 mph)
Experiment 1 - Results: verb that caused the lowest estimated speed
collided (32 mph)
Experiment 2: Method: how many groups were the participants split into?
three
Experiment 2: Method: Group 1 verb
smashed
Experiment 2: Method: Group 2 verb
hit
Experiment 2: Method: Group 3
didn’t have any indication of the vehicles speed
Experiment 2: Method: a week later the participants were asked
did you see any broken glass
Experiment 2: Results: was there any broken glass?
no
Experiment 2: Results: group 1
more likely to say there was glass then group 2
Experiment 2: Conclusion: leading questions can affect
the accuracy of people’s memories of an event
Experiment 2: Evaluation: EWT causes implications in
police interviews
Experiment 2: Evaluation: the study is an
artificial experiment
Experiment 2: Evaluation: watching a video isn’t
emotionally arousing
Experiment 2: Evaluation: another study found that if the participants thought the film was real
they gave more accurate speed estimates
Experiment 2: Evaluation: the experimental design might cause
demand characteristics
Experiment 2: Evaluation: the leading questions could lead to the participants
to figure out what the experiment was about
