Eyewitness testimony: misleading information

Misleading information: incorrect information given to the eyewitness after the event which can alter their testimony; includes leading questions and post-event discussion

Leading questions: a question that suggests a certain answer, e.g. ;was the knife in the accused's left hand?'

Post-event discussion (PED): when witnesses discuss the event and this influences their memory of it

Loftus and Palmer (1974)

• Procedure: 45 student participants were split into independent groups and shown a film of a car accident and asked questions about it. Within the questions, one leading question was asked about how fast the car was. All groups were asked the same question but a different verb was used (e.g. smashed, collided, bumped, hit, contacted)
• Findings: the more severe the word used, the higher the estimate of the car's speed
• Conclusion: there was a response bias (different estimates occurred because the critical word influences/biases a person's…