Misleading Information

Misleading Information

1. AO1: Most cognitive psychologists agree that our memories for events are not precise copies of what happened, as you might see if you were filming it. Instead, we only accurately retain fragments of the information, and fill in the gaps. This reconstruction of events leads to inaccuracies in recall, which can be compounded if we receive information after the event which distorts our original memory. For eye-witnesses to an incident, a subtle change in the wording of a question can have dramatic effects on what they recall

2. Loftus and Palmer (1974)

   • Experiment 1: Average speed
     • 45 university students were divided into 5 conditions.
       • The question “About how fast were the cars going when they (smashed, collided, bumped, contacted, or hit) into each other?”
   • Two experiments are reported in which subjects viewed films of automobile accidents and then answered questions about events occurring in the films.
     • In both these experiments, it can be seen the memory of the incident was changed due to the leading question in the first experiment. These results get are consistent with the view that the questions asked subsequent to an event can cause a reconstruction in one’s memory of that event
   • Experiment 2: Broken Glass
     • 150 different students were split into three conditions
       • One condition were asked the question with ‘smashed’, the other condition were asked the question with ‘hit’ and the other condition had no question (control)
         • On a retest one week later, those subjects who received the verb smashed were more likely to say “yes” to the question, “Did you see any broken glass?”, even though broken glass was not present in the film

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