Loftus and Palmer 1974 Flashcards
What was the aim of the experiments?
To see if information received after an event in the form of leading questions would change someone’s memory
What experiment was used in experiment 1?
Laboratory
What design was used in experiment 1?
Independent measures design
How many participants were there in experiment 1?
45 students
What apparatus was needed for experiment 1?
Equipment was needed to screen 7 films
How long was each clip? Experiment 1
5-30 seconds
What were the clips and how many had crashes in them?
Clips were safety promotion films and 4 of them had staged crashes in them
What were the 2 parts to the questionnaire in experiment 1?
First they were asked to give an account of what they had just seen
Second they were asked a set of questions relating to the accident
How did the researcher make sure there were no order effects?
Everyone watched the clips in different orders
How long did experiment 1 last?
Hour and a half
How was the IV manipulated in experiment 1?
By changing the verb in the critical question
Why were there other questions in the questionnaire experiment 1?
So there weren’t demand characteristics
What were the 5 verbs?
Collided Smashed Hit Bumped Contacted
What was the IV experiment 1?
The verb used to test the participants
What was the DV experiment 1?
The mean speed estimate
What 2 types of information does Loftus believe affects our memory of an event?
Information gained at the time of the event
Information gained after the event
What were the results for experiment 1?
People were not good at judging how fast a car is travelling
20mph - 37.7
30 - 36.2
40 - 39.7 and 36.1
Smashed - 40.5 collided - 39.3 bumped - 38.1 hit - 34 contacted - 31.8
What two interpretations did Loftus and Palmer offer for why the wording affects participants? Experiment 1
Response bias - giving a response in a certain direction according to the situation - the word smashed gives a cue that the answer was 40 as it suggests a higher speed
The language used causes a change in participants memory of events - ppts thought it was more severe than it was
Why did Loftus and Palmer do a second experiment?
They wanted to know which of there 2 interpretations were true
What was the aim of experiment 2?
To see if ppts in the smashed condition would be more likely to see broken glass one week later than the ppts in the hit or control condition
What was the research method? Experiment 2
Laboratory experiment
What was the design? Experiment 2
Independent measures
How many participants were there in experiment 2?
150 students
How long was the clip in experiment 2?
Less than 1 min with the accident lasting less than 4 seconds
What was the first questionnaire in experiment 2?
Completed straight after they saw the film clip asking ppts to describe the accident and to answer a series of questions. The critical question was the estimate of speed. There were 3 conditions
What were the 3 conditions experiment 2?
Smashed
Hit
Control
What was the second questionnaire experiment 2?
Contained 10 questions about the accident. The critical question was did you see any broken glass?
When did participants fill in questionnaire 1 & 2 experiment 2?
On one day for 1 and returned a week later to do 2
What were the results in experiment 2?
Ppts in smashed condition gave a higher estimated speed than those in hit condition (supporting exp1)
Participants in the smashed condition (16) were more likely to answer yes to the question about broken glass than the hit (7) and control (6) conditions
What does the verb affect exp 2?
Verb affects estimate of speed and the likelihood of ppts thinking they had seen broken glass
Conclusions
The question asked after an event can cause a reconstruction in someone’s memory of that event. The verb used can affect the speed estimate and whether someone recalls seeing broken glass
People are not good at judging vehicular speed
What do Loftus and Palmer believe happened in experiment 2?
Loftus and Palmer believe ppts took in info from original scene and merged it with the info they received after the event.
What was the IV in experiment 2?
Wording on a question in the questionnaire
What was the DV in experiment 2?
Whether they answered yes or no to the question
