Loftus and Palmer

Question 1

General aim?

Answer 1

to test whether the phrasing of questions about a car accident could alter participants’ memory of an event

Question 2

Experiment 1 aim?

Answer 2

to see whether using different verbs to describe a collision between 2 card would effect estimates of the speed at which they were travelling when the crash took place

Question 3

sample for experiment 1?

Answer 3

45 students- no age or gender details

Question 4

experimental design

Answer 4

independent measures

Question 5

experiment method?

Answer 5

lab experiment

Question 6

Procedure for experiment 1?

Answer 6

participants were shown 7 films of car crashes tkaen from training films used by the Seattle Police Department. in 4 of the films the speed of the car was known because the crashes were staged for training purposes. They were 20mph, 30mph, 40mph and 40mph. After watching the films all participants were asked to write an account of the accident and then to answer a serious of questions. All but one of the questions were fillers and the other question was a critical question, meaning it was closely concerned with the aim of the study: about how fast were the cars going when they hit eachother?

Question 7

what was the IV in experiment 1

Answer 7

the verb used in the critical question- ‘hit’, ‘contacted’, ‘bumped’, ‘collided’ or ‘smashed’

Question 8

what was the DV in experiment 1

Answer 8

the mean estimated speed of the car

Question 9

results from experiment 1

Answer 9

quantitative data- PPs estimates of the speed at which the cars were travelling were not affected by the actual speed
PPs were generally poor at estimating speed however estimates of the car’s speeds did vary according to the verb used in the critical question

Question 10

conclusion from experiment 1

Answer 10

participants’ estimates of the speed at which the cars were travelling when the accident took place varied according to the verb used to describe the crash, possibly because:

1. Response bias. when a participant is unclear what speed to estimate the verb gives them a clue whether it be a high or low figure
2. Memory distortion. The verb used in the question actually alters a participants memory of the crash

Question 11

aim for experiment 2?

Answer 11

to investigate whether the different speed estimates found in experiment 1 were in fact the result of a distortion in memory by seeing whether participants who heard the words associated with high speed estimates would be more likely to incorrectly remember broken glass at the crash scene

Question 12

sample for experiment 2

Answer 12

150 students

Question 13

procedure for experiment 2

Answer 13

all participants watched a film of a car crash which lasted less than one minute and the accident itself lasted four seconds. All participants were given a questionnaire that first asked them to describe the accident in their own words and then to answer a series of question. There was a critical question; the first 50 PPs received ‘about how fast were the cars going when they smashed into eachother?’, another 50 PPs received ‘about how fast were the cars going when they hit eachother?’ and another received questions that did not ask about the speed. A week later the participants returned and answered a further 10 questions with the critical question as ‘did you see any broken glass?’

Question 14

results in experiment 2?

Answer 14

PPs who heard the word ‘smashed’ in the critical question estimated a higher speed. More than twice as many people incorrectly remembered seeing broken glass having head the word ‘smashed’ in the question compared to those who heard ‘hit’ or no question about speed

Question 15

conclusion from both experiments?

Answer 15

the way questions about events are worded can affect the way in which those are remembered
Experiment 2 suggests that this is not simply due to response bias but instead that post event questions actually become part of the memory for that event- wording of questions can actually distort event memory