Mmemory: Misleading Information

Question 1

How does leading questions affect EWT

Answer 1

• loftus and palmer - students watched clips of car accidents and were given questions about the accidents
• in the critical questions ppts were asked to describe how fats the cars were going when they bumped/hit/crashed etc, into each other
• 5 groups of ppts, each given a different verb in the question
• mean estimate speed:’contacted’ = 31.8mph, ‘smashed’ = 40.5mph

Question 2

What are the 2 explanations for why leading questions affect EWT

Answer 2

• The response bias explanation
• the substitution explanation

Question 3

Outline the ‘response bias explanation’ for why leading questions affect EWT

Answer 3

• the wording of the question has no effect on the ppts memory, but influences how they decide to answer

Question 4

Outline the ‘substitution explanation’ for why leading questions affect EWT

Answer 4

• the wording of a leading question actually changes the ppts memory of the film clip
• this was demonstrated by Loftus and Palmer because ppts who originally heard ‘smashed’ were more likely to report seeing broken glass (there was none)

Question 5

What effect does post event discussion have on witnesses

Answer 5

• when co witnesses to a crime discuss it with one another, they EWT can become contaminated
• this is because they combine (mis)information from other witnesses with their own memories

Question 6

What study supports the effect of post event discussion on EWT

Answer 6

• Gabbert et al - studied ppts in pairs, each watched a video of the same crime but from a different perspective
• so each picked up additional details, both ppts then discussed what they had seen before completing an individual recall test
• 71% of ppts mistakenly recalled aspects of the events that they had not seen (memory conformity)

Question 7

What are the three evaluation points for misleading information

Answer 7

• useful real life application
• artificial tasks
• does not account for individual differences

Question 8

Outline ‘useful real life application’ as an evaluation point for misleading information

Answer 8

• very useful in real world scenarios when inaccurate EWT can be very damaging
• loftus - believed leading questions can have such a distorting effect on memory + police have to be careful when phrasing questions
• research into this area can have a huge positive benefit on improving the legal system

Question 9

Outline ‘artificial tasks’ as an evaluation point for misleading information

Answer 9

• ppts in loftus and palmers study watched film clips of accidents
• this Is very different from actually witnessing car crashes because it removes the anxiety
• there is evidence to suggest that emotions have a major infleunce on memory
• studies that use artificial tasks tell us little about the impact of leading questions

Question 10

Outline ‘does not account for individual differences’ as an evaluation point for misleading information

Answer 10

• evidence to suggest older people are less accurate than younger people when giving EWT
• Anastasia and Rhodes - found people aged 18-25 and 35-45 more accurate than 55-78
• own age bias - all ages groups more accurate when identifying people of their own age