The Cognitive Approach - Loftus and Palmer: CONCLUSIONS

Question 1

What do the findings indicate about the form of a question?

Answer 1

the findings indicate that the form of a question (in this case, changes in a single word) can markedly and systematically affect a witness’s answer to that question

Question 2

What were the 2 explanations that Loftus and Palmer proposed for the results?

Answer 2

• response-bias factors
• the memory representation is altered

Question 3

What are response-bias factors in this study?

Answer 3

the different speed estimates occur because the critical word (eg ‘smashed’ or ‘hit’) influences or biases a person’s response

Question 4

What does it mean if the memory representation is altered?

Answer 4

• the critical word changes a person’s memory so that their perception of the accident is affected
• some critical words would lead someone to have a perception of the accident having been more serious

Question 5

What would happen if ‘the memory representation is altered’ was true?

Answer 5

we would expect participants to ‘remember’ other details that are not true

Question 6

Why was experiment 2 carried out?

Answer 6

Loftus and Palmer tested to see if memory representation is altered - if participants would ‘remember’ other details that are not true

Question 7

Why were the scores in the ‘smashed’ group higher when asked about smashed glass?

Answer 7

in the ‘smashed’ condition, the 2 pieces of information (smashed and broken glass) combine to form a memory of an accident that appears to be quite severe and therefore generates certain expectations
- for example, that there is likely to be broken glass

Question 8

What did the findings of experiment 2 suggest about the effect of leading questions?

Answer 8

the findings of experiment 2 suggest that the effect of leading questions is not the result of response-bias but because leading questions actually alter the memory a person has for the event

Question 9

What can the findings of experiment 2 be understood in relation to?

Answer 9

these findings can be understood in relation to research on the effects of verbal labels on to-be-remembered forms

Question 10

What do verbal labels cause?

Answer 10

verbal labels cause a shift in the way information is represented in memory in the direction of being more similar to the suggestion given by the verbal label