Loftus & Palmer

Question 1

Background

Answer 1

Loftus was interested in the fragility of memory and the validity of eyewitness testimony. She believed the memory of an event could be influenced by stress and leading questions

Question 2

Key Terms

Schema Theory

Answer 2

The ability to retain information and to demonstrate this retention of information through behaviour

Question 3

Key Terms

Reconstructive Memory

Answer 3

The way in which our biases and prejudices can unconsciously lead us to have memories of
events that are distortions of what actually happened

Question 4

Key Terms

Leading Questions

Answer 4

A question which, by its form or content, suggests what answer is desired

Question 5

Aim

Answer 5

To investigate the effect of language - specifically ‘leading questions’ on memory

Question 6

Research Method

Answer 6

Lab experiment (The IV was manipulated by the researcher and the study took place in a controlled setting)

Question 7

Data Collection

Answer 7

Self-report (Participants were asked questions following watching the videos in each experiment) - This method is key because we cannot obtain insight into thought processes any other way

Question 8

Critical Question

Answer 8

“About how fast were the cars going when the cars ____ each other?”

Question 9

Experiment 1

Dependent Variable

Answer 9

Estimated speed of the car in the videos

Question 10

Experiment 1

Independent Variable

Answer 10

Verbs used in Critical Question
* Hit
* Collided
* Smashed
* Contacted
* Bumped

Question 11

Experiment 1

Sample

Answer 11

• 45 participants
• All students
• All from Washington, USA

Question 12

Experiment 1

Procedure

Answer 12

• Participants shown 7 film clips + given questionnaire to complete after each clip
• 2 parts to each questionnaire
• Asked to give account of accident seen
• Answered set of questions relating to accident
• Researchers interested in answers to speed of vehicles
• Each group presented with a different order of films

Question 13

Results

Answer 13

• Smashed - 40.8
• Collided - 39.3
• Bumped - 38.1
• Hit - 34.0
• Contacted - 31.8

Question 14

Experiment 1

Conclusions

Answer 14

• People are not good at estimating the speed of cars
• The form of a question does change the answer given by a witness

Question 15

Experiment 1

Explanations of Results

Answer 15

• Response Bias - The word in the critical question biases participants to give a different speed estimate
• Memory Change - The word in the critical question changed the memory the participant had about how fast the car was going

Question 16

Experiment 2

Sample

Answer 16

• 150 participants
• Split into 3 groups of 50
• All students
• All from Washington, USA

Question 17

Experiment 2

Independent Variable

Answer 17

Each of the 3 groups asked a different variation of the critical question
* “Hit”
* “Smashed”
* Control

Question 18

Experiment 2

Dependent Variables

Answer 18

• Whether the participant (incorrectly) remembers seeing broken glass
• Estimated speed of the car in the videos

Question 19

Experiment 2

Procedure

Answer 19

• Watched a clip lasting 1 min of a multiple car crash (the crash lasted 4 seconds of the clip)
• Answered the first questionnaire (including critical question which was changed for each group)
  1. About what speed were the cars going when they hit each other?
  2. About what speed were the cars going when they smashed into each other?
  3. Control condition - not asked about speed
• A week later participants returned to answer ten more questions including critical “Did you see any broken glass?”

Question 20

Experiment 2

Controls

Answer 20

All kept the same:
* Video used
* Time between testing
* Critical question

Question 21

Results

Answer 21

How many participants thought they saw broken glass:
1. Smashed - 16/50
2. Hit - 7/50
3. Control - 6/50

Question 22

Experiment 2

Conclusion

Answer 22

The form of a question does change the witness’ memory

Question 23

Explanation of Findings (Reconstructive Memory)

Answer 23

Components of Memory:
* Own Perception
* External Information

Question 24

Ethical Guidelines

Answer 24

• Consent (KEPT) - Students consented to participation in memory experiment
• Deception (BROKEN) - They were not told the true aim of the study and were deceived by irrelevant questions
• Protection from Harm (BROKEN/KEPT) - Participants may have been upset watching car accidents (although this was limited by having staged crashes)

Question 25

Ethnocentrism

Answer 25

• The research was only carried out on American students.
• However, it could be argued that it doesn’t matter where the research was carried out as memory is universal.

Question 26

Reliability

Answer 26

• Internal (HIGH) - Procedure standardised (All participants watched same clips, had same questions minus critical, had same amount of time between testing in experiment 2)
• External (LOW/HIGH) - 45/150 participants can establish consistent effect, but 9 per condition in Experiment 1 can’t

Question 27

Validity

Answer 27

• Internal/Construct (HIGH/LOW) - Very controlled so unlikely to have extraneous variables BUT Perhaps people said they saw broken glass as demand characteristics
• Population (LOW) - Sample were all students from America so lacking diversity
• Ecological (LOW) - Staged car accidents not real ones so hard to replicate how someone will behave in the real scenario