Loftus And Palmer

Question 1

What was the aim of experiment one?

Answer 1

Investigate the effects of language on memory

Question 2

How many participants in experiment one?

Answer 2

45 participants from the university of Washington

Question 3

Describe the film clips in experiment one

Answer 3

7 film clips of traffic accidents. Originally part of a driver safety film and were 5-30 second long

Question 4

What happened after EACH clip in experiment one?

Answer 4

Participants were given a questionnaire which asked them to

1) describe everything they could about the accident
2) answer a series of questions about the accident within these questions there was a critical question

Question 5

What is the critical question in experiment one?

Answer 5

What speed were the cars going when they …. …. into each other

Question 6

Describe the conditions in experiment one

Answer 6

Participants were divided into 1 of 5 conditions (verbs) the verb they were allocated was in the critical question

Question 7

What was the mean estimate for

SMASHED

Answer 7

40.8 mph

Question 8

What was the mean estimate for

HIT

Answer 8

34.0 mph

Question 9

What was the mean estimate for

BUMPED

Answer 9

38.1 mph

Question 10

What was the mean estimate for

CONTACTED

Answer 10

31.8 mph

Question 11

What was the mean estimate for

COLLIDED

Answer 11

39.3 mph

Question 12

Findings from experiment one

Answer 12

The more severe sounding the verb the higher the estimate.

Wording did have an effect

Question 13

Conclusions from experiment one

Answer 13

Verb used effected the memory of the crash.

Could be due to response bias, people found it difficult to judge so changed their results e.g. Demand characteristics

Question 14

Aim of experiment two

Answer 14

To see if participants asked the ‘smashed’ question would be more likely than the other to report seeing broken glass

Question 15

Describe the participants in experiment two

Answer 15

150 students from university of Washington

Question 16

Describe the film clips in experiment two

Answer 16

A 1 minute film clip of a 4 second multiple car crash

Question 17

What happened after they watched the clip in experiment two

Answer 17

They were asked to describe everything they could about the accident.
Answer a series of questions which has the same critical question as experiment one

Question 18

Describe the conditions

Answer 18

The participants were divided into three groups of 50 for different conditions
SMASHED
HIT
CONTROL ( not asked about speed)

Question 19

What happened after the questionnaire in experiment two?

Answer 19

Participants went home for 1 week when they returned without watching the clips again they were asked

Did you see any broken glass?

There wasn’t actually any broken glass

Question 20

If the verb is SMASHED and the response is YES what was the result

Answer 20

16

Question 21

If the verb is SMASHED and the response is NO what is the result

Answer 21

34

Question 22

If the verb is HIT and the response is YES what is the result

Answer 22

7

Question 23

If the verb is HIT and the response is NO what is the result

Answer 23

43

Question 24

If the condition is CONTROL and the response is YES what is the result

Answer 24

6

Question 25

If the condition is CONTROL and the response is NO what is the result

Answer 25

44

Question 26

Findings from experiment two

Answer 26

Took information and merged it with original information from the scene.
We make our memories make sense

Question 27

Conclusions of experiment two

Answer 27

The questions asked after an event can cause reconstruction in someone’s memory of that event. The verb used can effect a participants memory