Loftus And Palmer Methodological Issues

Question 1

Data

Answer 1

Quantitative - results can be easily summarised and comparisons can be made
Experiment 1 were mean estimates for each verb condition, this was good as it shows as the strength of the verb in the leading question increased, so did the mean estimate

Question 2

Deception

Answer 2

Participants were deceived as although they knew it was about memory, the hypothesis about leading questions was not revealed and distracter questions were used (this stopped demand characteristics)

Question 3

Internal validity

Answer 3

High internal validity as it was highly controlled and standardised.

Question 4

Was it reliable? Can it be repeated?

Answer 4

Can be repeated as it was a controlled lab experiment. Both experiments provide the same evidence that memory of an event can be changed by info received afterwards

Question 5

Sample - who took part, what sampling method did it use

Answer 5

Sample was a population of students
It was a volunteer or opportunity sample
The research advertised on the notice board at the uni with the offer of money
Sample was biased

Question 6

Research method

Answer 6

Laboratory experiment - low ecological validity

Question 7

Protection from harm

Answer 7

Ppts were protected as they weren’t real crashes

Question 8

Ecological validity

Answer 8

Low ecological validity as it was carried out in a laboratory. Ppts were asked to watch films clips and write what they had seen, in the real world crashes happen randomly so people’s memories will be different as they weren’t warned. Also, watching fake clips might lead to memories being different than if they saw a real crash as it is more stressful.

Question 9

Population validity

Answer 9

Low population validity as ppts were all students so can’t be generalised. The students only represent a small age range and they are likely to be intelligent as they are at university. People who aren’t as smart memories might be different - sample was biased