Reconstruction Of Automobile Destruction Undertaken By...

Overview The study, Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction undertaken by Loftus Palmer in 1974 consisted of two experiments, these experiments were completed in order to test their hypothesis that ‘the way in which a question about an eyewitness testimony was asked can change the recollection of events perceived by the witness’. The study served to aid the argument that memory can be altered and distorted when they subject is presented with new information that is given prior to the event. In order to test their hypothesis, Loftus Palmer conducted two laboratory experiments; both experiments took the design of an independent measures. The first experiment consisted of a group of 45 students who were shown footage of car accidents, following each film questionnaires were answered. The critical question from this questionnaire was in regards to the speed at which the car was travelling. In this question the verb used to describe the actions changed, meaning this was the indepen dent variable. The results of this question varied depending on the verb used. With the highest mean speed being for the word ‘smashed’ and the lowest for the verb ‘contacted’. The dependent variable in this experiment was the estimated mean speed. The second experiment differed in that it had a sample size of 150 students, they were divided into groups of 50. Again the groups were shown footage of car accidents however in this experiment one group of 50 were asked how fast the cars were