AS Level Psychology The core studies Cognitive Approach

AS Level PsychologyAS Level PsychologyThe core studiesThe core studies

Cognitive Approach

Eye Witness Eye Witness TestimonyTestimony

Traffic accident clipsTraffic accident clips

Traffic Accident Traffic Accident QuestionsQuestions

• Clip 1: Who was responsible for the accident?• Clip 2: What was the weather like?• Clip 3: About how fast in miles per hour was the

car going when it smashed into the bus?• Clip 4: What was the colour of the car out of

control?• Clip 5: Which way did the car skid first?• Clip 6: Did the car have an amber or a green

light at the junction?• Clip 7: Which part of the red car was damaged?


• The study of human memory is a research area in cognitive psychology

• Eye witness testimony involves memory!

Eye witness Eye witness testimony?testimony?

• Elizabeth Loftus & John Palmer tested the reliability of eye witness testimony

• Can the memory of an event be changed by the way witnesses are questioned?

• The effect of leading questions

Loftus & PalmerLoftus & PalmerClass discussion:• What is a leading question ?

Do we agree that• Memory is not like a camera - we always

reconstruct our memories

Loftus & PalmerLoftus & Palmer

• The title of their paper was: The reconstruction of an automobile destruction

• Their research involved two experiments

Loftus & Palmer Loftus & Palmer Experiment 1Experiment 1

• The participants - 45 students• The procedure - Students watched film clips of

car accidents• After watching the films the students were asked

to do two things

Loftus & Palmer Loftus & Palmer Experiment 1 Experiment 1

1. Write an account of what they had seen

2. Answer questions about what they had seen

One question was the critical question

Loftus & Palmer Loftus & Palmer Experiment 1Experiment 1

The Critical QuestionAbout how fast were the cars going when they(*******) each other?

There were five conditions (verbs) in theexperiment (Five groups of students)


The five conditions (verbs)

Were:1. Contacted 2. Hit 3. Bumped 4. Collided5. Smashed


Expt 1: Estimated Speed for Verb Used

20

25

30

35

40

45

Contac

ted Hit

Bumpe

d

Collided

Smas

hed

Sp

eed


• What conclusion can you draw from the findings?• What was the IV?• What was the DV?


The second experiment by

Loftus & Palmer

Loftus & Palmer - Loftus & Palmer - Experiment 2Experiment 2

• The participants - 150 students

• The procedure - Students watched a one minute film which showed a 4 second multiple car accident


After the film the participants were divided intothree experimental groups


Group 1 was asked:

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


Group 2 was asked:

“How fast were the cars going when theysmashed into each other?”


Group 3 was asked no question about the speedof the cars


One week later• The participants returned and were asked more

questions including the critical question

“Did you see any broken glass?”


The findings• Which group

saw more broken glass?

Expt 2: Response to "Did you see any broken glass"

01020

304050

Smashed Hit Control

No

. o

f R

esp

on

ses

Yes

No


• What was the DV in the second experiment?

• What conclusion can you draw from the findings?

• Complete a card sort to identify which results and conclusions link to experiment 1 and which results and conclusions link to experiment 2.

• You will be provided with cards with information on both experiments and some ‘red herrings’ too!

• In pairs you need to organise the cards logically in sequence and into the three groups;

1. Results & conclusions from experiment 1

2. Results & conclusions from experiment 2

3. Red herrings!

Verb Used Speed estimation

2 conclusions

Verb Condition

Number of participants that saw broken glass

% that saw broken glass

Plus 6 red herrings!

Results from exp 1: Results from exp 2:

Verb Used Speed estimation

2 conclusions

Smashed 40.8 Response Bias

Collided 39.3 Memory alteration caused by schema provoked by the word used

Bumped 38.1

Hit 34

Contacted 31.8

Verb Condition

Number of participants that saw broken glass

% that saw broken glass

Smashed 16 32%

Hit 7 14%

Control 6 12%

Plus 6 red herrings!

Results from exp 1: Results from exp 2:

•Confirm your card sort is correct by your teacher

•Use this information to complete the Core study worksheet-

complete the charts using this information

•Answer the questions about the conclusions that can be drawn

from the study

Loftus & Palmer Loftus & Palmer • Was this research in any way unethical?• Did this research have ecological validity?• Was this a repeated measures design

or an independent measures design?

Loftus & Palmer Loftus & Palmer • Read the study• In your general text, read up on what

psychologists say about human memory• According to Loftus & Palmer (in the 2nd

experiment) how did the leading question ‘change’ the memory ?

Eye Witness Eye Witness testimonytestimony

• Do you think that unsupported eye witness testimony should be sufficient evidence upon which to convict someone?

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AS Level Psychology The core studies Cognitive Approach