EWT - Misleading Questions

EWT - Misleading Questions

1. Negative Effect

   • Loftus & Palmer
     • Lab experiment
       • Showed 45 students a film of a road accident involving a number of cars
       • After seeing the film P. described what happened in the style of an EWT
       • P. were asked "How fast did the cars go when they 'smashed' into each other?" and "How fast were the cars going when they 'hit' each other?"
     • Findings
       • 'Smashed'
         • Thought the cars were going faster than those who were asked 'hit' question
           • Just under 41 mph
       • 'Hit'
         • 34 mph
     • 1 week later P. were asked if they had seen any broken glass at the scene of the accident
       • Smashed
         • 32% said they had
       • Hit
         • 14% said they had
           • There had been no broken glass in reality
     • Conclusion
       • Misleading questions reduce the accuracy of EWT

2. No Effect

   • Yuille & Cutshall
     • Robbery at a gunshop
       • A shootout occurred which resulted in the death of the robber and serious injury to the owner
       • 13 eyewitnesses were interviewed 4-5 months after the incident
         • Researches asked 2 misleading questions
           • Questions had no effect - none of the witnesses were misled
     • Conclusion
       • post-event info does not affect memory in real life and eyewitness testimony can be very reliable

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