Describe: Classic Study: Loftus and Palmer's ROAD

EXPERIMENT 2: Results

Smashed:yes:16 ;Smashed:no:34; Hit:yes:7; Hit:no:43; Control:yes:6; Control:no:44

EXPERIMENT 1: Results

Smashed= mean estimate of speed: 40.8mph; Contacted= 31.8mph

EXPERIMENT 1: How were they split?

Split into 5 groups with 9 participants in each

EXPERIMENT 2: participants?

150 student participants were shown a short film that showed a multi- vehicle accident and then they asked questions about it

EXPERIMENT 1: Participants?

45 participants were shown short video clips

EXPERIMENT 2: One week later they were asked...

Did you see any broken glass?

EXPERIMENT 2: Two kinds of information were suggested by Loftus and Palmer to go into a person's memory for an event...

Firstly, the person's own perception, and secondly, information supplied after the event (e.g. leading questions).

EXPERIMENT 2: Group 1 were asked...

How fast were the cars going when they 'hit' each other?

EXPERIMENT 2: Group 2 were asked...

How fast were the cars going when they 'smashed' each other?

EXPERIMENT 1: What were the participants asked?

How fast were the cars going when they...each other?

EXPERIMENT 1: conclusions

How the question was phrased influenced the participants mean speed estimates; When the verb 'smashed' was used, participants estimated that the cars were travelling much faster than when the verb 'contacted' was used.

EXPERIMENT 2: How were the participants split up?

Participants were split into 3 groups of 50 each..

What does ROAD stand for? and what date?

Reconstruction of automobile destruction, 1974

Explanations for the results of experiment 1

Response bias: The different speed estimates occurred because the critical word (e.g. 'smashed' or 'hit') influences or biases a person's response; Memory is altered: The critical word changes a person's memory so they actually 'see' the accident differently, i.e. more or less severe.

Explanations for experiment 2:

Results showed again that the way the question was asked and phrased influence the answer given: Not due to response bias, as all pp's were asked if they'd seen any broken glass- leading question had actually altered the participant's memory of the event.

Dependent variable

The estimate of speed or whether the participants saw broken glass

Aim?

To investigate how information provided to a witness after an event will influence their memory of that event

Method

Two laboratory experiments; independent measures

Independent variable

Verb used