Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Loftus and Palmer (1974)

1. The car experiment

2. Methodology

   • two experiments
   • laboratory
   • independent groups design
   • Experiment 1- 45 students
   • Experiment 2- 50 students

3. Procedures

   • Experiment 1
     • seven film clips
       • different accidents
       • 5-30 seconds
       • questionnaire
     • 5 groups, nine participants in each
     • 'About how fast were the cars going when they _____ each other?'
       • hit, smashed, collided, bumped, contacted
       • estimates of speed recorded in m/ph

4. Experiment 2

   • Part 1
     • three groups- 50 participants
       • group 1
         • 'How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?'
       • group 2
         • 'How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?'
       • group 3
         • control group- no question
       • accident lasted less than 4 seconds
   • Part 2
     • Week later
       • return to lab
     • 'Did you see any broken glass?'
       • there was no broken glass