Memory: Eyewitness testimony: Misleading information Flashcards
Loftus and Palmer study
1974
Response-bias explanation
Wording of a question = no effect on eyewitness memory of an event, BUT influences kind of answer given.
Substitution explanation
wording if a question = effect on eyewitness memory
Interferes w/ original memory, distorting its accuracy
Loftus and Palmer: PP’s, study type
45 participants, 5 groups
Lab study
Loftus and palmer procedure
Watched film on car accident, answered q’s about speed
Critical question in loftus and palmer study
‘how fast were the cards going when they hit each other?’
Verbs
Hit, contacted, bumped, collided, smashed
Smashed
41 mph
Contacted
32 mph
What does a leading question do?
Bias recall of an event
Post-event discussion
Discussions of an event which could affect accuracy of recall
Memory contamination
When co-witnesses discuss crime, they mix info from other witnesses with their own memories
Memory conformity
Witnesses go along with each other to fain social approval or because they believed other witnesses were right (ISI)
What did Gabbert (2003) report?
71% of pp’s reported things they couldn’t have seen after post-event discussion
control group where no discussion = no errors
A03 - lab study advantage
high validity and reliability
control of extraneous variable such as noice, POV
