Loftus (1975) Flashcards
When did Loftus’ experiment take place?
1975
What did loftus experiments look at?
Whether or not the wording of questions could influence the answer
What was loftus first experiment?
Can an initial question influence the answer you get to a subsequent question?
150 students watched a film about a multiple car accident and then had to do a 10 item questionnaire.
They could get asked:
How fast was the car going when it ran the stop sign?
How fast was the car going when it turned right? And then walked if they saw the stop sign.
What were the results of loftus first experiment?
Asking about the stop sign made it more likely participants would say that they had seen it.
Potential explanations- strengthening of already existing memory traces
- constructing new memories
What was loftus second experiment?
Designed to test the construction hypothesis.
40 participants watched a video of a lecture disruption by 8 anti war demonstrators and then were either asked:
Was the leader of the four demonstrators male or was the leader of the 12 demonstrators male?
A week later they were then asked how many demonstrators that there were.
What was the result of loftus second experiment?
Asking about 12 demonstrators made participants say they had seen more.
What was Loftus third experiment?
Can the wording of a question make people construct memories of things that weren’t there?
150 participants watched a video of a car accident. They were then asked either how fast was the white sports car going when it passed the barn when travelling along the country road or how fast was the white sports car going as it travelled down the country road.
A week later they were asked if they had seen the barn.
What were the results of loftus third experiment?
More in the first group remember falsely seeing the barn
What was loftus fourth experiment?
Direct questions vs false presuppositions
Did you seen a school bus in the film vs did you see the children getting in the school bus
One week later they were asking the direct question again.
More of the false presupposition group falsely remembered items (29.2%)
What conclusions did loftus come to?
What we experience before and after an incident can affect how we remember it
Memories can be reconstructed to include false information
The wording of a question can significantly influence ones memory about a significant occurrence
What were the applications of loftus experiment?
Question witnesses (multiple times) can change their memories
Leading questions and fake presuppositions are a particular problem
Controversy: recovered childhood memories of abuse
