Research into Misleading Information

Eyewitness Testimony

 is evidence provided by people who witnessed a particular event or crime.

Factors that effect eyewitness testimony include misleading information, age and anxiety.

Misleading information

Loftus and Palmer 1974.

Experiment 1. 

Method:

a group of participants were shown a film of a car crash.

Afterwards they were asked a series of questions. "How fast is the car going when they hit eachother?" However they changed the verb "hit" with "smashed", "collided", "bumbed" or "contacted" for different participants.

Results:

They found that participants who had had the verb "smashed" estimated a highier speed,(approx 41 mph) in comparison to those who had the verb "contacted" and gave an estimation of 32mph. 

Experiment 2. 

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