Loftus & Palmer

• Aim of exp 1: to see whether using different verbs to describe a collision between two cars would affect estimates of speed at which they travelled when the crash took place
• Aim of exp 2: to see whether different speed estimates would result in distortion of memory, specifically if participants that heard words associated with high-speed estimates would incorrectly remember seeing broken glass.
• Memory


  Interpreting what we see/hear, recording bits and reconstructing these into memories when required
• Recall can be distorted or biased by certain features of the situation
• Loftus and Palmer study

  Showed ways memory can be distorted, showing EWT (Eyewitness Testimony) is unreliable/inaccurate
• This study focuses on the effect of leading questions on an individual's ability to accurately remember events
• Method of exp 1:

  • participants shown same 7 video clips of different traffic accidents
  • given a questionnaire after each clip- asked to describe accident
  • 1 critical question- speed of cars- different verbs used
• Results:

  • Smashed-40.5
  • Collided-39.3
  • Bumped-38.1
  • Hit-34
  • Contacted-31.8
• exp 1 participants: 45 students

  • divided into 5 groups
• Exp 2 sample: 150 students

  • divided into 3 groups
• Method for exp 2:

  • shown a 1 minute film showing a 4 second multiple car crash
  • given a questionnaire
  • asked to describe accident & answer set of Questions
  • given another questionnaire 1 week later
  • 'did you see any broken glass'
• Results for exp 2 (broken glass):

  Smashed- 10.46

  Hit- 8

  Response-yes

  smashed- 16

  hit- 7

  control- 6

  Response-no

  smashed- 34

  hit- 43

  control- 44