factors affecting accuracy of eyewitness testimony:misleading questions

Question 1

loftus and palmer aim of study

Answer 1

to see the effect of leading questions on accuracy of EWT

Question 2

procedure of loftus and palmer

Answer 2

45 students watched clip of car accident
asked them questions ncluding a critical question (leading question) based on speed
quesiton was about how fast were the cars going when they HIT eachother
all 45 students were split into 5 groups, each having a differrent verb from the verb hit e.g smashed, bumped

Question 3

findings of loftus and palmer study

Answer 3

mean estimated speed was calcualted for each group e.g contacted=31.8mph
smashed=40.5mph

Question 4

conclusion of loftus and plamer study

Answer 4

leading questions bias EWT of an event

Question 5

loftus and palmer second study aim

Answer 5

to support the substitution explanation

Question 6

procedure of loftus and palmer second study

Answer 6

shows clips again and changed verb in critical question again
this time, also asked them if they recalled seeing broken glass or not

Question 7

findings of loftus and plamer second study

Answer 7

those who heard the word hit were less liekly to report seeing broken glass than those who heard the word smash even tho there was no borken glass

Question 8

conclusion of loftus and plamer second study

Answer 8

the leading question/cirtical verb actually altered their memory of the event

Question 9

weakness of loftus and plamer study

Answer 9

lack of population validity
original study used 45 students as a sample
may not be represnative of target population
students may have unique memory abailtiies as use their memory a lot for exams
advanatge also due to their age, older people may not perfom as well or younger peoeple
therrefore, difficult to generalise findings

Question 10

strength of loftus and palmer study

Answer 10

practical applications to the crinimal justice system
consequence of inaccurate EWT can be very serious and if loftus research showws hoe leading quesions can distort memrort, then police officers will be more aware to avoid asking leading questions wgen interviwing eyewitnesses
shows psycholgoists and their research into ewt can help to imporve the legal system and minismise the chances of inncent people being wrongyl convicted based on inaccurate EWT