Why do leading questions affect EWT

• Research shows that EWT is affected by experiences occurring after a witnessed event
• A key factor is the use of misleading information, particularly in the form of leading questions and post-event discussion
• For instance, most people will have seen TV dramas set in courtrooms where barristers are accused of ‘leading the witness‘ by asking questions that suggest a certain answer
• Misleading information has been found to be able to create false memories the more believable, emotionally arousing and subtle it is
• Response-bias explanation from Loftus and Palmer’s first experiment
• Response-bias explanation suggests that the wording of the question has no real effect on the participants memory, but it influences how they decide to answer
• When participants get a leading question using the word ‘smashed’ this encourages them to choose a higher speed estimate
• Substitution explanation- Loftus and Palmers second experiment
• Substitution explanation- suggests that the wording of a leading question changes the participants memory of the videoclip