Loftus And Palmer Flashcards
What was the aim of Loftus and Palmer?
To investigate the effect of leading questions on eyewitness accounts and effects leading questions might have on later memory of what happened.
What was the research question of Loftus and Palmer?
Do leading questions distort an eyewitness memory of an event?
What was the hypothesis of Loftus and Palmer?
The strength of the verb used in the leading question will have significant effect on participants reports of the speed of a crash
Who were the participants in experiment 1?
45 students uni of Washington, 5 conditions.
What was the procedure of Loftus and Palmer? Experiment 1
IV: verb used DV: speed estimated
They were shown 7 film clips of accidents ranging from 5-30 seconds long.
After they were asked to write an account of the accident, answer questions and the critical question of speed.
The 5 conditions: smashed, collided, bumped, hit, contacted
What were the results of experiment 1?
Smashed: 40.8 Collided: 39.3 Bumped: 38.1 Hit: 34.0 Contacted: 31.8
Explain results of experiment 1
- Results due to distortion of memory. Memory distorted by verb label which was used to characterise intensity of crash
- Response bias factors, they weren’t sure of exact speed and adjusts his fit with expectations of questioner
Who were the participants in experiment 2?
150 student participants, 3 conditions
What was the procedure of experiment 2?
Viewed 1 minute film with 4 second scene of multiple accidents.
‘How fast were cars when hit each other?’
‘How fast when smashed each other?’
Not asked about speed of vehicles
1 week later asked ‘Did you see any broken glass?’ (No glass in film)
What were the results of experiment 2?
Response
Yes - (smashed 16) (hit 7) (control 6)
No - (smashed 34) (hit 43) (control 44)
If heard word smashed 2x more likely to claim glass
Explain results of experiment 2
Reconstructive hypothesis:
2 types of information
1) obtained from perceiving event 2) supplied after event. Overtime these sources integrate and we all have 1 memory.
What was the conclusion of Loftus and Palmer?
The meaning of the verb used in the leading question had become integrated with memory of an event and changing memory causing false memory to be reconstructed.
What was the background of Loftus and Palmer?
Memory is not a factual recording of an event memories can be distorted by info after the event.
Bartlett looked at this as we try to fit past events into existing representations of the world- memory is more coherent.
Research has documented how difficult it is to estimate numerical details such as speed. Loftus demonstrated the use of leading questions can distort a persons memory of an event.
