Misleading Information & EWT: Loftus (1975)

Loftus (1975)

Loftus showed participants a film of the events leading up to a car accident. After they had seen the film, participants were divided into a control group and an experimental group. The control group was asked questions consistent with what they had actually seen ('How fast was the white sports car going when it passed the Stop sign?'), whereas the experimental group was asked a question that included misleading information ('How fast was the white sports car going when it passed the barn while travelling along the country road?'). There had been a Stop sign in the original film but no barn. All the participants were then asked more questions about the accident. 17% of the participants in the experimental group reported seeing a barn in the…