Leading questions

• The two explanations for the influence of leading questions are:

  • response bias
  • substitution explanation
• The response bias explanation is when the wording of the question has no real effect on the ppts' memories, but influences how they decide to answer.
• The substitution explanation is when the wording of the leading question actually changes the ppts' memory for the event.
• Strength of leading questions: supporting evidence from Loftus & Palmer. Experiment 1: 45 ppts estimating the speed of cars in 7 films containing car accidents. Ppts divided into 5 conditions and asked about cars speed. e.g. how fast the cars were going when they hit each other. The verb was replaced for each condition. When 'contacted' was used, the average guess was 31.8mph. When 'smashed' was used, the average guess was 40.8mph. This supports the response bias explanation as when ppts were asked a leading question using the word smashed, they chose a higher estimate.
• Support for leading questions: Loftus & Palmer experiment 2.

  150 ppts divided into 3 groups and shown a clip of a car accident.

  Group 1: how fast were the cars going when they smashed each other

  Group 2: how fast were the cars going when they hit each other

  Group 3: had no questions about speed

  A week later all groups were asked 'did you see any broken glass'

  32% of ppts in smashed conditions mistakenly reported broken glass compared to 14% in hit and 13% in control. This supports substitution explanation as the verb used altered their memory of the event.