Memory: eyewitness testimony (leading questions) Flashcards
Who conducted the study?
Loftus and palmer
What was the aim for study 1?
To see if an eyewitness’s memory of an event can be influenced by leading questions
What was the sample for study 1?
-45 students
What was the procedure for study 1?
-participants shown 7 different video clips of a car crash
-asked to estimate the speed of the car
-participants were split into five groups and each group were asked a different critical question
What was the critical question for study 1?
‘How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?’
Which verb changed for every critical question?
‘Hit’
What different verbs were used?
-contacted
-hit
-bumped
-collided
-smashed
What were the estimated speeds for each verb?
-contacted: 32mph
-hit: 35mph
-bumped: 38mph
-collided: 39mph
-smashed: 41mph
What was a strength to study 1?
-highly controlled lab study
-high reliability
What were some negatives to study 1?
-response bias (don’t remember the speed but the verb acts as a clue)
-lacks ecological validity (yuille and cutshall found leading questions had no effect on witnesses to a real armed robbery)
What was the sample for study 2?
-150
What was the procedure for study 2?
-shown videos of car crashes
-split into 3 groups
What were the 3 groups asked for study 2?
-group 1: ‘how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?’
-group 2: ‘how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?’
-group 3: control group
What was the follow up question for study 2?
‘Did you see any broken glass’
-there was no broken glass in the video
How long after the original study were they asked the follow up question?
-1 week later
