EWT- misleading information

• Leading question- Loftus and Palmer:

  • 45 participants watched a video of a car crash and asked afterwards how fast the car was going
  • Different adjectives were used to describe the crash (hit, contacted, bumped, collided and smashed)
  • Mean estimate speed: contacted= 31.8 mph, smashed= 40.5 mph
  • Leading questions caused biased responses
• Response bias- doesn't affect memory, only response e.g. harsher words suggest higher speeds
• Situation- explanation- suggests wording changes memory of event e.g. 'smashed'- participants reported broken glass
• Post- event discussion- co-witnesses discuss their experiences and combine them
• Gabbert

  • Participants in pairs, each participant watched a video of the same crime from a different angle
  • Participants discussed what they had seen before and completed a test
  • 71% recalled aspects they hadn't seen but picked up in discussion. Control group (no discussion)= 0%
  • Memory contamination- memory becomes distorted because the combined information
  • Memory conformity- going along with what the other person says to gain approval