Misleading Information^

Question 1

Loftus & Palmer 1

Answer 1

investigate effect of leading q’s on EWT
45 USA students in 5 groups watched videos of cars crashing
“How far were the cars going when they ___ each other?”
- contacted/ bumped/ collided/hit/ smashed
contacted slowest at 31.8%
smashed fastest at 40.5%
leading q’s biased the recall of events

Question 2

Loftus & Palmer 2

Answer 2

150 US students in 3 groups
- smashed/ contacted/ hit
‘Did you see the broken glass?’
no broken glass
- 32% said yes with ‘smashed’
-14% with ‘hit’
- 12% from controlled group
memory distorted by q’s a week later
demonstrates power of leading q’s

Question 3

Response Bias

Answer 3

leading questions have no effect on actual memory, just influence answers

Question 4

Substitution

Answer 4

wording of question can change memory

Question 5

Lab Study

Answer 5

• demand characteristics+ highly controlled variables
  : link between IV and DV
  + replicable = reliable
  + high internal validity

Question 6

Lack Ecological Validity

Answer 6

• not reflective of daily life
• emotions differ which makes them vulnerable to leading questions

Question 7

Sample Size

Answer 7

45 is too small to be generalised

Question 8

Independent Groups

Answer 8

individual differences

Question 9

Artificial Materials

Answer 9

video impacts differently than real life
possible harm is an ethical issue

Question 10

Cultural Bias

Answer 10

• different cultures and results
• lack population validity
• ethnocentric

Question 11

Evidence VS Substitution

Answer 11

EWT accurate for some parts of an event
Sutherland & Hayne
- video, misleading questions
- recall accurate on central details than peripheral
- attention to central and resistant to misleading q’s
Original memories not distorted
- outcome not predicted by substitution explanation

Question 12

Real Life Application

Answer 12

Influenced court trials
Loftus argued police must consider the way
they draw info can cause false conviction

Question 13

Post Event Discussion

Answer 13

witnesses of same event discuss their memory can lead to distortion, false memory

Question 14

Gabbery et al

Answer 14

studied participants in pairs that watched the same in diff perspective
discuss then tested on events
71% mistakenly reported things they did not see, but picked up from discussion
0% of control group gave false details
- no discussion

Question 15

Memory Contamination

Answer 15

PED led to memories being genuinely altered

Question 16

Memory Conformity

Answer 16

going along to witnesses memory for social approval or because they genuinely believed the others are right