Factors affecting the accuracy of EWT

Question 1

What is misleading info?

Answer 1

Info that suggests a desired response - able to create false memories

Question 2

What are leading questions?

Answer 2

Questions that increase the likelihood that someone’s schemas will influence them to give a desired answer.

Question 3

What is post-event discussion

Answer 3

misleading info being added to a memory after the event has occurred, with research indicating that false memories can be stimulated by misleading post-event

Question 4

What is the procedure for experiment one of Loftus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 4

45 uni students shown 7 clips of car crashes.
After each incident they wrote account of what they could recall & answered specific questions.
5 conditions, varying on which verb sued in key question - based on the speed of the cars. Estimation of speed recorded.

Question 5

What is the procedure for experiment 2 of Loftus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 5

150 pp’s viewed video of car crash.
50 were asked key q with the word ‘smashed’ in it, 50 with ‘hit’ & control group of 50.
A week later they were questioned about their memory of the event - did u see any broken glass?

Question 6

What are the findings of experiment 1 of Loftus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 6

As the intensity of the verb used in the key Q increased, so did the estimation of the speed of the cars

Question 7

What are the findings of experiment 2 of Loftus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 7

PP’s were twice as likely in the ‘smashed’ condition to recall the false memory of broken glass.

Question 8

What are the conclusions of Loftus & Palmers study?

Answer 8

exp 1 showed misleading info in the form of leading Qs can affect memory recall.
exp 2 showed that misleading info in the form of post-event info can affect memory recall of eyewitnesses

Question 9

Give evaluations of Loftus & Palmer’s study

Answer 9

Lab experiment centred on artificial task - lacks mundane realism.
Results may be due to demand characteristics as they may have just given the answer they thought the researches wanted.

Question 10

What is the procedure for Loftus & Pickrell’s study?

Answer 10

120 students who saw Disneyland in childhood divided into 4 groups and told to answer Q’s about the trip.
Group 1 - read fake Disneyland ad with no cartoon characters
Group 2 - read fake ad featuring no cartoon characters & shown cardboard figure of bugs bunny
Group 3 - read fake Disneyland ad featuring bugs bunny
Group 4 - read fake ad with bugs bunny and saw cardboard figure of him

Question 11

What are the findings of Loftus & Pickrell’s study?

Answer 11

30% in group 3 & 40 % in group 4 remembered or knew they’d met bugs bunny when visiting Disneyland.
Those exposed to misleading info about bugs bunny were more likely to relate bugs bunny to other things at Disneyland not in the ad.

Question 12

What are the conclusions of Loftus & Pickrell’s study?

Answer 12

Post event info leads to false memories
Verbal and pictorial suggestions can contribute to false memories
Memory is changeable and vulnerable to inaccuracy.

Question 13

Evaluate Loftus & Pickrell’s study

Answer 13

Uses memory of real life event rather than something watched on video.

Question 14

Evaluate misleading info as factor affecting accuracy of EWT

Answer 14

PP’s don’t expect to be deliberately misled by the researchers so inaccurate recall is expected as pp’s believe the researches to be telling the truth.
Misleading info affects only unimportant aspects of memory, memory from important events isn’t as easily distorted when the info is obviously misleading

Question 15

What is the weapon’s effect and who was it proposed by?

Answer 15

Witnesses to violent crimes focus on the weapons being used rather than the culprits face, affecting the ability to recall events. Loftus.

Question 16

What is the Yerkes-Dodson inverted-U hypothesis?

Answer 16

Diagram that shows how anxiety affects recall of events

Question 17

What does the inverted-U hypothesis say about the levels of anxiety affecting accuracy of EWT?

Answer 17

Moderate amounts of anxiety improving the detail and accuracy of memory recall up to an optimal point, after which further increases in anxiety lead to a decline in accuracy of recall.

Question 18

How does repression explain how anxiety can affect the accuracy of EWT?

Answer 18

Freud - anxiety hinders the recall of memories as forgetting is motivated by the traumatic content of memories.

Question 19

What is Ginet & Verkampt’s study on anxiety affecting accuracy of EWT?

Answer 19

Produced moderate anxiety in pp’s by telling them fake electrodes attached to them would give electric shocks.
Their recall of minor details of a traffic accident viewed on video was superior to pp’s with lower anxiety produced by being told the fake electrodes was for recording purposes - shows mod anxiety does improve EWT

Question 20

Evaluate anxiety as a factor affecting the accuracy of EWT

Answer 20

Studies can produce psychological harm
Other factors eg age can affect accuracy of EWT