Weapon Focus Effect - Loftus

Question 1

Aim of Loftus

Answer 1

Pride evidence for the ‘weapon focus effect’ when witnessing a crime

Question 2

Method of Loftus

Answer 2

Laboratory Experiment

Question 3

Participnats of Loftus

Answer 3

• 36 students from uni of Washington, 18-31
• Half recruited through an advertisement
• Paid $3.50
• Remainder in exchange for credit on psychology course

Question 4

Procedure of Loftus

Answer 4

• Two sets of 35mm slides shown
• 18 slides in each series showed people queuing in a taco time restaurant
  Control Group: Person B hands cashier cheque
  Experimental Condition: Person B pulls out a gun
• Rest of slides identical
• Told it was experiment on proactive interference

Also given a line-up of 12 head and shoulder photos of random sequence and asked to rate how confident they were of their identification on a scale of 1-6

Question 5

How was DV measured

Answer 5

• Measured by a 20 item multiple choice questionnaire

Question 6

Results of Loftus

Answer 6

• Answers to the questionnaire about slide showed no significant difference
• Chance of picking the correct photo out randomly was 8.5%,
• control =38.9% correct
• experiment = 11.1% correct
• No difference in confidence levels
• Eye fixation levels showed more focus on gun than cheque