Loftus and Palmer (1974)

?
Title of the study?
'Reconstruction of automobile destruction'
1 of 59
Context of the study?
Research into memory, Leading questions and Estimating speed.
2 of 59
What has research into memory shown?
Memories do not simply record events and they are NOT accurate.
3 of 59
What is a leading question?
A question phrased in a way for a person to give a particular answer.
4 of 59
What has estimating speeds shown?
People are inaccurate when estimating speeds of vehicles.
5 of 59
Name a previous study about estimating speeds and what they found.
Marshall (1969) found that Air Force personnel were very inaccurate, estimates of car at 12mph = 10.50mph.
6 of 59
How many studies were there?
2 studies
7 of 59
Aim of study 1?
To investigate the accuracy of memory and the effect of leading questions on what people remember.
8 of 59
Aim of study 2?
To see if the leading question changed a person's subsequent memory of the event they witnessed.
9 of 59
Sample of study 1?
45 American college students
10 of 59
How many groups were the P's divided into?
5 groups
11 of 59
Sampling methodology in study 1?
Opportunistic sample (Doesn't actually say though)
12 of 59
Sample of study 2?
150 American college students
13 of 59
How many groups were the P's divided into?
3 groups
14 of 59
Sampling methodology in study 2?
Opportunistic sample (Doesn't actually say though)
15 of 59
2 strengths of the sample?
Easy to recruit through college staff and It is cost-effective.
16 of 59
2 weaknesses of the sample?
Ethnocentric (Can't generalise) and All students (may have better memories than older generation - Can't generalise).
17 of 59
Research method of both studies?
Laboratory studies using independent measure designs.
18 of 59
Snapshot or Longitudinal of study 1?
Snapshot study
19 of 59
Independent variables in study 1?
Verb used to describe the accident.
20 of 59
Dependent variables in study 1?
Estimate of speed.
21 of 59
An appropriate hypothesis for study 1?
P's in each group provide different estimates of speed the car was travelling at the time of the accident.
22 of 59
Snapshot or Longitudinal of study 2?
Longitudinal study
23 of 59
Independent variables in study 2?
Verb used to describe the accident.
24 of 59
Dependent variables in study 2?
Reporting whether broken glass was seen or not.
25 of 59
An appropriate hypothesis for study 2?
P's who believe the car was travelling faster ('smashed group') are more likely to report broken glass than P's in the other 2 groups ('hit'+control group).
26 of 59
3 strengths of the research method?
High control, Easily replicable and Can establish cause+effect.
27 of 59
2 weaknesses of the research method?
Lacks Ecological validity (Artificial setting) and Potential demand characteristics.
28 of 59
How many film clips were shown in study 1?
7 film clips.
29 of 59
What happened after the film clips were shown? (study 1)
P's were asked Q's about the film clips including one critical question.
30 of 59
What was the critical question in study 1?
"How fast were the cars going when they X each other?"
31 of 59
X stands for the verb, what were the 5 conditions (verbs)? (study 1)
Group 1: 'Hit", Group 2: 'contacted', Group 3: 'Smashed', Group 4: 'Bumped' and Group 5: 'Collided'
32 of 59
How many parts were there to the procedure of study 2?
2 parts
33 of 59
What happpened at the start of the first part?
The P's were shown a film of a car accident.
34 of 59
What happened next?
They were then asked questions about the film clips including one critical question.
35 of 59
What was the critical question in the first part of study 2?
"How fast were the cars going when they X each other?"
36 of 59
How many conditions were there? and what were they?
3 conditions - Experimental group 1 with the verb 'smashed', Experimental group 2 with the verb 'hit' and the control group where no question was asked.
37 of 59
What happened at the start of part 2 of study 2?
P's were asked to return to the laboratory one week later.
38 of 59
What happenned when they returned to the lab?
They were asked more questions about the film clips including a critical question.
39 of 59
What was the critical question in part 2?
"Did you see any broken glass?"
40 of 59
Was there actually any broken glass in the film in study 2?
No
41 of 59
Study 1: What were the mean estimates of speed?
'Smashed': 40.8mph, 'Collided': 39.3mph, 'Bumped': 38.1mph, 'Hit': 34.0mph, 'Contacted': 31.8mph
42 of 59
Were the P's able to accurately estimate the speed? Give a piece of evidence to support this
No because in 4 of the films, the speeds were: 20mph, 30mph, 30mph and 40mph yet P's estimated speeds between 36mph and 40mph.
43 of 59
Study 2: What were the mean speed estimates?
'Smashed': 10.46mph and 'Hit': 8.0mph
44 of 59
What were results from part 2 (Broken glass)?
'Smashed': 16 P's reported broken glass, 'Hit': 7 P's reported broken glass and Control group: 6 P's reported broken glass
45 of 59
How many P's in total reported no broken glass?
121 out of 150 reported no broken glass.
46 of 59
2 strengths of quantitative data in this study?
Easy to calculate a mean speed and Easy to draw conclusions.
47 of 59
2 weaknesses of quantitative data in this study?
No explanation of why individuals estimated speeds the way they did (superficial) and Knowledge produced might be too general for application.
48 of 59
Study 1: What do the results show?
Leading questions can affect the accuracy of memory.
49 of 59
What were the 2 explanations that Loftus and Palmer proposed?
Response bias factors and The memory representation is altered.
50 of 59
What is meant by response bias factors?
Different speed estimates occur as the critical word influences a person's response.
51 of 59
What did they mean by 'The memory representation is altered'?
The critical word changes a person's perception of the accident.
52 of 59
What did Loftus and Palmer conclude about part 1 of experiment 2?
Leading questions can influence the answer given.
53 of 59
What did they conclude from part 2 of experiment 2?
This effect is NOT just due to response-bias as leading questions alter the memory a participant had for an event.
54 of 59
What is memory determined by according to Loftus and Palmer?
One's own perception at the time of the original event and External information supplied after the event.
55 of 59
True/False: Over time information is integrated in such a way, you can no longer distinguish between them?
True
56 of 59
Ethical Issues with Loftus and Palmer?
Protection from harm (exposed to real car accident)
57 of 59
Possible applications of Loftus and Palmer?
Helps police in catching real criminals instead of wrong people.
58 of 59
Possible changes to Loftus and Palmer?
Use a real eyewitness testimony + interview them after real accidents (more natural setting) and Select sample from general public via adverts etc.
59 of 59

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Context of the study?

Back

Research into memory, Leading questions and Estimating speed.

Card 3

Front

What has research into memory shown?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What is a leading question?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What has estimating speeds shown?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Psychology resources:

EWT
See all Psychology resources »See all Core studies resources »