To provide support for the weapon focus effect when witnessing a crime.
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Describe the methodology Loftus used
Laboratory experiment.
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Who were the participants in Loftus' study?
36 students from University of Washington, aged 18-31. Half paid $3.50 and volunteer sample. Other half got extra credit for their psychology course.
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Describe the procedure of the slides
Two sets of 35mm slides were shown. 18 slides in each showed people queuing in a Taco Time restaurant.
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Describe the 2 groups
In the control group, person B hands the cashier a cheque. In experimental condition, person B pulls a gun (IV). All other slides were identical and shown for 1.5 seconds.
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What were the participants told the study was about and how was the DV measured?
Told it was about proactive interference. DV measured by a 20-item multiple-choice questionnaire.
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What were the participants also given and what were they asked to do?
Also given a line up of 12 head-and-shoulder photos in a random sequence. Asked to rate confidence in identification on scale of 1-6. 6 = very sure.
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What did results show on questionnaire and photo line-up?
Answers to questionnaire showed no significant difference between the 2 conditions. Chance performance on line-up was 8.5%.
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How many people in each condition chose the correct person?
In control group, 38.9% chose correct person (7 people). In weapon condition, 11.1% chose the correct person (2 people).
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Is this result significant and what was there no difference between?
This result is significant. No difference in confidence level of either group.
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What did eye fixation data show?
An average of 3.72 on gun condition and 2.44 on cheque condition which is significant.
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Discuss the results
As expected, participants spent longer looking at the weapon so found it harder to identify suspect.
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What did a second experiment do?
The second experiment with the same procedure supported the findings.
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