Misleading Information: leading questions

• Leading Question 


  one which by it's phrasing and wording suggests a particular answer from the respondent.
• Research support for leading question - Loftus and Palmer 


  45 American students watched a video clip of a car accident in lab conditions. They got a questionnaire with questions on it saying 'how fast were the cars going when they x each other. The x was replaced with one of five critical verbs: collided, bumped, hit, smashed and connected. The critical verb influenced the estimated speed the students predicted. Higher speeds was estimated for words like 'smashed' compared to 'contacted' which estimated lower speeds.
• Evaluation for Loftus and Palmer study

  +standardised procedure as done in lab settings so extraneous variables were controlled and research can be replicated and can asses for reliability and doing so found consistent results.

  -Low ecological validity as its a video so doesn't cause the same emotional feeling or anxiety as you would in real life.

  -Bias sample: sample is not representative of the general population as students may be less experienced when estimating speeds of cars.
• Evaluation strength - Loftus and Palmer study

  +standardised procedure as done in lab settings so extraneous variables were controlled and research can be replicated and can asses for reliability and doing so found consistent results.