Studies on misleading questions

1) What was the procedure and findings of the study done by Loftus and Palmer on leading questions?

2) What is the evaluation for this study?

1) 45 students were shown films of traffic incidents. After each film participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire. There was one critical question (leading question), for example 'How fast was the car going when it smashed into the other car?'. Each group were given a different verb in the question, so instead of 'smashed' there would be 'hit' or 'collided'. Those who answered the question with the verb 'smashed' said the car was going the fastest out of all the groups. The group that answered the question with the verb 'contacted' estimated a much lower speed. 

2) It is a valid experiment because it could be repeated by other psychologists. However, it does not make the participants feel the emotions they would in a real incident so it does not reflect real life.

1) What was the procedure of the study?

2) What were the findings?

3) What is the evaluation?

1) They had interviewed 13 people who had witnessed a real robbery 4 months after the crime. The interview included 2 misleading questions.

2) Despite misleading questions, witnesses provided information that matched the initial reports.

3) It is a real life study because it was a real crime that the witnesses experienced. However, the study only included the 13 participants so it cannot be generalized to the whole population.