Misleading information Flashcards
what is misleading information?
a question that either by its form or contents, suggests to the witness what answer it desired or leads them to the desired answer
which two advocates are associated with misleading information/
Loftus and Palmer
what did Loftus and Palmer do in experiment 1?
45 students were shown 7 films of different tragic accidents. After each film the [participants were given a questionnaire which asked them to describe the accident. And then asked series of specific questions and once critical one “About how fast were the cars going when they HIT each other?” Each time the verb was changed”smashed, collided, bumped, contacted and hit”
What did Loftus and Palmer find in experiment 1?
They found the group given the word “smashed” estimated a higher speed and “contacted” estimated the lowest speed
what did Loftus and Palmer do in experiment 2?
Groups divided into 3 groups were shown a film of a car accident lasting 1 minute. Group 1 were given the verb “smashed” Group 2 “hit” and group 3 had no question about the speed. 1 week later they were asked a series of questions and 1 critical “Did you see any broken glass?” there was none in the film
what did Loftus and Palmer find from experiment 2?
participants gave higher speeds with “smashed” verb and were more likely to think they saw broken glass. It also shows misleading past-event info does change the way info is stored
what is one weakness of the study?
It lacks validty
expand on the weakness of validity
Lab experiments are not representative as those taking part dont take the experiment seriously enough and they are not emotionally aroused in the way they would be in a real accident.
