memory - misleading information (EWT)

Question 1

what is a leading question?

Answer 1

a question that suggests a certain answer because of the way it’s phrased

Question 2

who researched leading questions?

Answer 2

Loftus and Palmer (1974)

watched film clips of a car accident

About how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?

contacted - 31.8mph
smashed - 40.5mph

Question 3

response-bias explanation

Answer 3

the wording of the question has no effect on the memory, but influences how they decide to answer

Question 4

substitute explanation

Answer 4

the wording of the question changes the participant’s memory

Question 5

research support for substitute explanation

Answer 5

Loftus and Palmer repeated their experiment and participants with the verb ‘smashed’ were more likely to report seeing glass even though there wasn’t any

Question 6

what is post-event discussion?

Answer 6

occurs when there is more than one witness - they discuss what they’ve seen which can influence the accuracy of their recall

Question 7

who studied post-event discussion?

Answer 7

Gabbert et al (2003)

participants in pairs - watched same crime from different POVs, then discussed

71% of participants recalled aspects of the event they didn’t see

Question 8

memory contamination

Answer 8

discussion causes their memory to be altered or distorted because they combine information from other witnesses with their own memories

Question 9

memory conformity

Answer 9

witnesses go along with each other to win social approval or because they believe the others are right

actual memory is unchanged

Question 10

strength - real-world application

Answer 10

leading questions and police

psychologists explain limits of EWT to juries at court trials

counterpoint - ethical implications

Question 11

limitation - lab setting

Answer 11

Loftus and Palmer (1974) had participants watch film clips in a lab, which is significantly less stressful from witnessing a real event

Foster et al (1994) pointed out that there are far more important consequences for eyewitnesses’ memory in real life

Question 12

limitation - evidence against substitution

Answer 12

Sutherland and Hayne (2001) studied leading questions and found participants’ recall was more accurate for central details and so resistant to misleading information