Misleading information

• Leading questions - loftus and palmer

  Participants watched a film of a car crash and we asked the following question

  ‘How fast was the car going when it ... Into the other car’

  The blank was replaced with different verbs

  When smashed was used, the average speed estimate was 40.5 mph

  When contacted was used, the average speed of 31.8 mph

  Shows that leading questions impacted the participants memory of the event
• Leading question explanation

  response bias

  Memory is not changed

  The wording of the question doesn’t impact our memory, but influences how we choose to answer
• Leading question explanation

  Substitution explanation

  memory has been altered

  Loftus and Palmer conductor a second study asking, was there any smashed glass?

  Participants who previously heard the cars smashed together were more likely to report having seen glass

  this suggests that the leading question has caused the memory to be altered
• Post event discussion - gabbert

  participant and confederate watched video of crime, then discussed it

  confederate added fasle information

  When asked questions, the participant added the false information

  75% of memory included the false information
• post event discussion explanation

  memory contamination

  memory is changed

  when witnesses discuss a crime, they contaminate and distort each others memory’s

  they combine other information with their own memories
• post event discussion explanation

  memory conformity

  memory is not changed

  witnesses go along with others to fit in or because they believe the other witness is correct
• A limitation is the evidence against memory conformity

  showed participant differnt film clips of same crime with a few details changed

  participants then discussed crime

  when asked they often mixed information, like dark brown hair and light brown hair, they would say medium brown hair

  this shows that memory has been distorted through contamination
• a limitaion is evidence against substitution

  EWT is more accurate for some aspects of an event than others

  showed participants a video clip and then Asked the leading questions, their recall was more accurate for central details

  participants attention was likely focused on central details and these were resistant to distortion, which substitution explanation can’t explain
• a strength is the real world application

  it has important practical use in the criminal justice system.

  the consequence of inaccurate EWT is serious, the reseach has shown the distorting effects of leading questions on memory which allows police officers to be trained to avoid this

  this work has helped improve the justice system and protect innocent people from convictions
• the practical applications of EWT may be limited because they were carried out in artificial settings what witnesses remember has important consequence in real life but particiants responses in research doesn’t matter so they may be less motivated to be accurate