Loftus & Palmer (1974)

Question 1

(Loftus & Palmer) Describe the background of the study - what was Loftus interested in?

Answer 1

Loftus was interested in the fragility of memory (how easily we can forget information).
She was also heavily interested in the validity of eyewitness testimony. She believed stress could influence the memory of the even they had witnessed as well as the way the interview was carried out.

Question 2

(Loftus & Palmer) Define the term ‘Schema theory’.

Answer 2

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

Question 3

(Loftus & Palmer) Define the term ‘reconstructive memory’.

Answer 3

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

Question 4

(Loftus & Palmer) Define the term ‘leading questions’.

Answer 4

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

Question 5

(Loftus & Palmer) What was the aim of the study?

Answer 5

To investigate the effect of language on memory.

Question 6

(Loftus & Palmer) Which research method was used, and how do you know this?

Answer 6

A lab experiment as the IV (verb used in the critical question) was manipulated by the researcher and the study took place in a controlled setting.

Question 7

(Loftus & Palmer) Describe the sample used in Experiment 1.

Answer 7

Students from Washington, USA.
45 spilt into 5 groups of 9.

Question 8

(Loftus & Palmer) What were the 5 different verbs used in the critical question?

Answer 8

Hit, collided, smashed, contacted and bumped.

Question 9

(Loftus & Palmer) What was the dependent variable of the study?

Answer 9

Estimated speed of the car in the videos.

Question 10

(Loftus & Palmer) Describe the first section of the procedure in Experiment 1.

Answer 10

Watch: Students were shown 7 clips from Evergreen Safety Council of the Seattle 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.
The clips were shown in a different order for each participant.

Question 11

(Loftus & Palmer) Describe the second section of the procedure in Experiment 1.

Answer 11

Questions: After each clip they were given a questionnaire of 2 parts:
- To give an account of the accident
- Answer questions on the accident

Question 12

(Loftus & Palmer) Describe the data collection of this study.

Answer 12

Self report: Participants were asked questions following watching the staged car crashes.
In experiment 1 they were asked about estimated speeds and in experiment 2 they were asked about seeing broken glass.

Question 13

(Loftus & Palmer) Why is the method of self report key within the cognitive area?

Answer 13

We cannot obtain insight into thought processes any other way.

Question 14

(Loftus & Palmer) Results: What was the mean estimated speed for the verb ‘smashed’?

Answer 14

40.8

Question 15

(Loftus & Palmer) Results: What was the mean estimated speed for the verb ‘collided’?

Answer 15

39.3

Question 16

(Loftus & Palmer) Results: What was the mean estimated speed for the verb ‘bumped’?

Answer 16

38.1

Question 17

(Loftus & Palmer) Results: What was the mean estimated speed for the verb ‘hit’?

Answer 17

34

Question 18

(Loftus & Palmer) Results: What was the mean estimated speed for the verb ‘contacted’?

Answer 18

31.8

Question 19

(Loftus & Palmer) What was concluded from the study? (2)

Answer 19

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

Question 20

(Loftus & Palmer) How does response bias explain the results?

Answer 20

The word in the critical question biases participants to give a different speed estimate.

Question 21

(Loftus & Palmer) How does memory change explain the results?

Answer 21

The word in the critical question changed the memory the participant had about how fast the car was going.

Question 22

(Loftus & Palmer) Describe the sample used in Experiment 2.

Answer 22

Students from Washington, USA.
150 spilt into 3 groups of 50.

Question 23

(Loftus & Palmer) What is the IV in Experiment 2?

Answer 23

The verb used in the critical question.
Each of the 3 groups was asked a different variant of the critical question.

Question 24

(Loftus & Palmer) What experimental design did Experiment 2 have?

Answer 24

Independent measures design.

Question 25

(Loftus & Palmer) What is the DV in Experiment 2?

Answer 25

Whether the participants (incorrectly) remembers seeing broken glass.
Estimated speed of the car in the videos.

Question 26

(Loftus & Palmer) Describe the first section of the procedure in Experiment 2.

Answer 26

Participants watched a clip lasting 1 min of a multiple car crash (the crash lasted for 4 seconds of the clip). They then answered the first questionnaire which included the critical question which was changed for each group.

Question 27

(Loftus & Palmer) What were the three different questions that we asked to the three group in Experiment 2, after they had watched the clip?

Answer 27

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 - no asked about speed

Question 28

(Loftus & Palmer) Describe the second section of the procedure in Experiment 2.

Answer 28

A week later, participants returned to answer 10 more questions including the critical “did you see the broken glass?”.

Question 29

(Loftus & Palmer) What controls were put in place for Experiment 2?

Answer 29

• Video used
• Time between testing
• Critical question

Question 30

(Loftus & Palmer) How many participants remembers seeing broken glass when asked the smashed question?

Answer 30

16/50

Question 31

(Loftus & Palmer) How many participants remembers seeing broken glass when asked the hit question?

Answer 31

7/50

Question 32

(Loftus & Palmer) What was concluded from Experiment 2?

Answer 32

The form of a question does change the witness’ memory.

Question 33

(Loftus & Palmer) How many participants remembers seeing broken glass when not asked about speed?

Answer 33

6/50

Question 34

(Loftus & Palmer) What two concepts make up the theory of reconstructive memory?

Answer 34

Own perception and external information.

Question 35

(Loftus & Palmer) Describe ‘own perception’ regarding reconstructive memory.

Answer 35

Your own perception of the event is what you think happened (based on your own memory).

Question 36

(Loftus & Palmer) Describe ‘external information’ regarding reconstructive memory.

Answer 36

External information is content given after the event. This can be through questioning from police, media coverage etc.

Question 37

(Loftus & Palmer) What three ethical considerations relate to his study?

Answer 37

Consent, deception and protection from harm.

Question 38

(Loftus & Palmer) Describe how the ethical consideration of consent relates to this study.

Answer 38

Students consented to their participant in a memory experiment.

Question 39

(Loftus & Palmer) Describe how the ethical consideration of deception relates to this study.

Answer 39

They were not told the true aim of the study and were deceived by irrelevant questions.

Question 40

(Loftus & Palmer) Describe how the ethical consideration of protection from harm relates to this study.

Answer 40

Participants may have been upset watching car accidents (although this was limited by having staged crashes).

Question 41

(Loftus & Palmer) Evaluate how ethnocentrism influences this study.

Answer 41

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 42

(Loftus & Palmer) Evaluate how internal reliability influences this study.

Answer 42

The procedure was standardised as all participants watched the same staged car accidents, had the same questions (minus the critical question) and has the same amount of time in between testing in experiment 2.

Question 43

(Loftus & Palmer) Evaluate how external reliability influences this study.

Answer 43

45 and 150 participants seems like a large enough sample to establish a consistent effect by 9 per condition in experiment 1 may not be enough.

Question 44

(Loftus & Palmer) Evaluate how internal (construct) validity influences this study.

Answer 44

Very controlled so unlikely to have extraneous variables.
Perhaps people said they saw broken glass as demand characteristics.

Question 45

(Loftus & Palmer) Evaluate how ecological validity influences this study.

Answer 45

Staged car accidents not real ones - hard to replicate how someone will behave in the real scenario.

Question 46

(Loftus & Palmer) Evaluate how population validity influences this study.

Answer 46

Sample were all students from America - lacks diversity.