LOFTUS & PALMER

Question 1

What is the aim of lotus and palmer ?

Answer 1

To investigate the effect of language on memory, in particular leading questions.

Question 2

Participants in lotus and palmer

Answer 2

45 students from uni of Washington

Question 3

Procedure ?

Answer 3

Ps showed 7 video clips taken from a Seattle police road safety video
4 of them contained a crash
Ps were asked to recount what they had seen and then fill out a questionnaire about what they saw in the crash

Question 4

What verbs were used in the 5 critical questions ?

Answer 4

How fast were the cars going when they …. hit, smashed, collided, bumped, contacted.

Question 5

What were the results of the actual speed of car in clip compared with the average speed estimated

Answer 5

20mph-37.7

40mph-39.7

Question 6

What was the speed guessed when the verbs were used ?

Answer 6

Contacted - 31.8

Smashed - 40.8

Question 7

What is the conclusion ?

Answer 7

the wording of the question impacts the participants speed estimates

Question 8

What was the aim of experiment 2 ?

Answer 8

To investigate whether participants were estimating higher speeds from the response set or a genuine memory change.

Question 9

Sample of experiment 2?

Answer 9

150 students

Question 10

Procedure of experiment 2?

Answer 10

All ps watched a 1 minute clip that had a multiple car crash

after, the 2 experimental groups of participants were asked the critical question within a questionnaire

Question 11

What was the second critical question

Answer 11

Did you see any broken glass?

Question 12

Results from exp 2 smashed group

Answer 12

16 said they saw broken glass

34 said they didn’t

Question 13

Results from exp 2 hit group

Answer 13

7 said they saw the broken glass

43 said they didn’t

Question 14

Experiment 2 conclusions?

Answer 14

Leading questions were again influencing participants testimony. Smashed group predicted significantly higher than the hit group. Ps in smashed were more likely to say they saw glass

Question 15

What is the validity

Answer 15

Low ecological validity as lab experiment as its artificial

Film clips are not real life participants don’t see the consequences of the crash

Question 16

Ethics ?

Answer 16

Harm: possibly upset about the crashes?
Consent: ps told it was an experiment but slightly deceived on true intentions of study

Question 17

Reliability?

Answer 17

Standardised test is easy to replicate
Study repeated in exp 2
Large sample so consistent findings

Question 18

How does this study link to usefulness debate

Answer 18

Led to a great deal of research being carried r out into the best way for police officers to question officers