Questions that influence the response of the participant
Loftus and Palmer (1974) Experiment 1
45 students
Shown 7 films of different traffic accidents
Given a questionnaire after each film
Critical question: "How fast were the cars going when they hit each other"
One group given this question, other 4 groups given verbs 'smashed, collided, bumped'
Loftus and Palmer (1974) Experiment 2
Participants divided into 3 groups
Shown a film of a car accident
Asked a series of 10 questions 1 week later, including "Did you see any broken glass?"
No broken glass in the film
Post-event discussion
· The memory of an event can also be contaminated or altered through discussing events and/or being questioned
· Conformity effect: co-witnesses may reach a consensus of what actually happened. Gabbert and colleagues (2003) found that 71% of witnesses who discussed the event they had seen on a video went on to mistakenly recall items acquired during the discussion
· Repeat interviewing: each time an eyewitness is interviewed there is the possibility that comments from the interviewer will be incorporated into their recollection of the event
