Loftus & Palmer Flashcards
What is the background of loftus and palmers study
Interested in the fragility of memory
Heavily interested in the validity of eyewitness testimony
Believed stress could influence the memory lf the event they had witnessed as well as the way the interview was carried out
What is schema theory
Ability to retain information and to demonstrate this retention of information through behaviour
What is reconstructive memory
The way in which our biases and prejudices can unconsciously lead us to have memories of events that are distortions of what actually happened
What are leading questions
A question which, by its form of content, suggests what answer is desired
What are leading questions
A question which, by its form of content, suggests what answer is desired
What was the aim of loftus & palmers study
To investigate the effect of language on memory
What research method is used in loftus & palmers study
Lab experiment
IV was manipulated by the researcher and the study took place in a controlled setting
What is the sample for loftus & palmers first experiment
45 students, split into 5 groups of 9 from Washington USA
What was the independent variable for loftus & palmers first experiment
- Hit
- Collided
- Smashed
- Contacted
- Bumped
What is the dependent variable for loftus & palmers first experiment
Estimated speed of the car in the videos
What is the procedure for loftus & palmers first experiment
- Students were shown 7 clips from the police department. The staged clips lasted between 5 and 30 seconds. 4/7 clips contained staged crashes of which the speed when they crashed was known. Clips were shown in a different order for each participant
- After each clip they were given a questionnaire of 2 parts
- asked to give an account of the accident
- would answer questions on the accident
What data collection was used in loftus & palmers first experiment
Self report - key as cannot obtain insight into thought processes any other way
What was the mean speed reported in the first experiment when smashed was the verb used
40.8
What was the mean speed reported in the first experiment when hit was the verb used
34.0
What were the conclusions found for loftus and palmers first experiment
People are not good at estimation speed
The form of the question does change the answer given by the witness
What were the two explanations for the results from the first experiment
Response bias - the word in the critical question biases participants to give a different speed estimate
Memory change - word in the critical question changed the memory the participant had about how fast the car was going
What was the sample for loftus and palmers second experiment
150 students split into 3 groups of 50 from Washington USA
What was the independent variable in loftus and palmers second experiment
Each group was asked a different version of the critical question biases
1. Hit
2. Smashed
3. Control - no question about speed
What was the procedure for loftus and palmers second experiment
- Participants watched a clip lasting 1 minute of a multiple car crash. They then answered the first questionnaire which included the critical question which was changed for each group
- about what speed when hit
- about what speed when smashed
- not asked about speed - A week later participants returned to answer ten more questions including the critical “did you see any broken glass”
What was the dependent variable for loftus and palmers second experiment
Whether the participant (incorrectly) remembers seeing broken glass
Estimated speed if the car in videos
What were the controls of loftus and palmers second experiment
Video used
Time between testing
Critical question
What were the results of loftus and palmers second experiment
16/50 participants remembered seeing broken glass when asked the “smashed” question
7/50 participants remembered seeing broken glass when asked the “hit” question
6/50 participants remembered seeing broken glass when not asked about the speed
What was the conclusion for loftus and palmers second experiment
The form of a question does change the witness’ memory
What are the two explanations of loftus and palmers findings
Own perception of the event is what you think happened
External information is content given after the event through questioning from the police, media coverage
Which ethical guidelines were broken
Deception - not told the true aim of the study and deceived by irrelevant questions
Protection from harm - participants may have been upset by watching car accidents
What ethical guidelines were kept
Consent - students consented to their participation
How was loftus and palmers study ethnocentric
Research was only carried out with American students but it could be argued that is doesn’t matter where research was carried out due to the fact memory is universal
How is loftus and palmers research internally reliable
Procedure was standardised as all participants watched the same staged car accidents, had the same questions and had the same amount of time between testing in experiment 2
How is loftus and palmers research externally reliable
Experiment 1 - 5 groups of 9 is not large enough to establish a consistent effect
Experiment 2 - 3 groups of 50 is large enough to establish a consistent effect
How is loftus and palmers study internally valid
Very controlled so unlikely to have extraneous variables
People may have said they saw broken glass due to demand characteristics
How was loftus and palmers study ecologically valid
Staged car accidents not real ones - hard to replicate how someone will behave in the real scenario
How does loftus and palmers study not show population validity
Sample were all students from America so lacking diversity
