Loftus and Palmer

• Memory refers to the process involved in the process involved in the storing and retrieving of information.
• Bartlett suggested that memory is influenced by what an individual already knows, using past experiences to deal with a new one. This is known as schemas.
• Reconstructive memory involves interpreting what is seen or heard and can be distorted by what we expect to have happened and post-event information (e.g. how we are asked about information).
• Eye witness testimonies require a witness to recall an event when asked by a lawyer. They are unreliable as memory can be distorted. This inspired Loftus and Palmer to investigate how leading questions impact memory.
• Loftus and Palmer aimed to investigate the effects of leading questions on an individual's ability to accurately recall events.
• In experiment 1, Loftus and Palmer studied 45 of Loftus' students from Washington University split into 5 groups of 9.

  In experiment 2, Loftus and Palmer investigated 150 different students from Washington University split into 3 groups of 50.
• Experiment 1 procedure:

  1. All participants shown the same 7 film clips of different traffic accidents,
  2. After each clip, participants then filled out a questionnaire containing the critical question "About how fast were the cars going when they ... each other?"
  3. The 5 critical verbs were: smashed, collided, bumped, hit, contacted.

  The issue with this was that memory may not have actually been distorted as speed is hard to estimate so they may have remembered the event the same but assumed a more serious verb implies a higher speed
• Experiment 2 procedure:

  1. All participants were shown a 1 minute film which contained a 4 second car crash,
  2. They then had to fill out a questionnaire. Each condition was asked a different critical question. It either contained the verb "smashed", "hit" or no question about speed.
  3. 1 week later they were asked to fill out another questionnaire which contained the question "Did you see broken glass?"
• In experiment 1, Loftus and Palmer found that the verb smashed had the highest mean estimated speed of 40.5 mph. The verb contacted had the lowest mean estimated speed of 31.8 mph.

  In experiment 2, they found that 16 participants in the "smashed" condition said they saw broken glass compared to 7 in the "hit" condition or 6 in the control.
• Loftus and Palmer concluded that memories are reconstructed from what we actually perceive as happening at the time and the information that is later received. Also eyewitness accounts may not be reliable sources of information, especially when leading questions are used.