Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction

Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Experiment into false memory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfhIuaD183I

Have a pen and paper ready !!

What influences the recall of events ?

Questioning and post-event contamination.

(Loftus and Palmer) Expectations – stereotypes and

schemas.(Bartlett) Emotion/Stress – Weapon Focus(Loftus and Burns) Context – Retrieval cues (Malpass and Devine).

7/7 Bombings evidence of false memories

Reconstructive Memory Bartlett (1932) and Schemas Memory is not a direct record of what

was witnessed What is encoded and how it is

retrieved depends on: Information already stored in memory How this info is understood, structured

and organised

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Schema Driven Processing

Yes. I can

recognise speech.

Can you wreck a

nice beach?

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Bartlett (1932)

‘Pickaxe’

‘Turf cutter’

Input OutputSchema

Bartlett (1932)

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War of the GhostsOne night two young men from Egulac went down to the river to hunt seals, and while they

were there it became foggy and calm. Then they heard war-cries, and they thought: "Maybe this is a war-party". They escaped to the shore, and hid behind a log. Now canoes came up, and they heard the noise of paddles, and saw one canoe coming up to them. There were five men in the canoe, and they said: "What do you think? We wish to take you along. We are going up the river to make war on the people". One of the young men said: "I have no arrows". "Arrows are in the canoe", they said. "I will not go along. I might be killed. My relatives do not know where I have gone. But you", he said, turning to the other, "may go with them.“ So one of the young men went, but the other returned home. And the warriors went on up the river to a town on the other side of Kalama. The people came down to the water, and they began to fight, and many were killed. But presently the young man heard one of the warriors say: "Quick, let us go home: that Indian has been hit". Now he thought: "Oh, they are ghosts". He did not feel sick, but they said he had been shot. So the canoes went back to Egulac, and the young man went ashore to his house, and made a fire. And he told everybody and said: " Behold I accompanied the ghosts, and we went to fight. Many of our fellows were killed, and many of those who attacked us were killed. They said I was hit, and I did not feel sick". He told it all, and then he became quiet. When the sun rose he fell down. Something black came out of his mouth. His face became contorted. The people jumped up and cried. He was dead.

ReproductionThe War of this GhostsTwo Indians were out fishing for seals in the Bay of

Manpapan, when along came five other Indians in a war-canoe. They were

going fighting. "Come with us," said the five to the two, "and fight." "I cannot come," was the answer of the one, "for I have an

old mother at home who is dependent upon me." The other also said he could not come, because he had no arms. "That is no difficulty" the others replied, "for we have plenty in the canoe with us"; so he got into the canoe and went with them. In a fight soon afterwards this Indian received a mortal wound. Finding that his hour was come, he cried out that he was about to die. " Nonsense,“ said one of the others, "you will not die." But he did.

Bartlett (1932) War of the Ghosts When recalled by UK PPs:

Shorter Less detailed Some details changed (e.g. seal hunting

changed to fishing) More ‘Western’ structure

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EWT: Schema Driven Errors Past experiences Assumptions about

what usually happens

Stereotypes & beliefs about crime & criminals

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EWT: Arousal Effects Memory is most

effective at moderate arousal levels

If the witness was in a state of extremely low or high arousal then recall may be poorarousal

perf

orm

ance

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EWT: Weapon Focus When a weapon is

used to threaten a victim, their attention is likely to focus on it

Consequently, their recall of other information is likely to be poor

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EWT: Retrieval Cues Recall typically takes place in a

different context to acquisition Lack of retrieval cues (state and context)

can inhibit recall Reconstruction of the events (either

imagination or simulation) can lead to enhanced recall

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Plenary

What are the different factors that affect recall that we have discussed today?

****

Loftus and Palmer (1974) Reconstruction of automobile

destruction: an example of the interaction between language and memory

Field of psychology: Cognitive Type of study: Laboratory

experiment

Aim and Context

“I do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”

Why is it important? The Innocence project

An organisation which works to clear the names of wrongly convicted people

They claim that eyewitness misidentification is the greatest single cause of wrongful convictions in the USA, convictions that were later overturned by DNA evidence.

The study by Loftus and Palmer took place in 1974. Why is this relevant to the context?

Carmichael (1932) You have a few seconds to

remember the pictures on the board

Try to reproduce the image Compare your drawing with

your partners. Are there any differences? How do we explain these results?

Carmichael (1932) Carmichael’s experiment suggests

that memory is not always accurate. Memory is reconstructed from the

different elements (the pictures and the words)

Also, this experiment suggests that language (the verbal labels) can alter our recall.

Marshall (1969) Air Force personnel, observed a car

travelling at 12 mph. Their estimates ranged from 10 to 50

mph. Range in answers possibly due to leading

questions. These results also show us that humans

are poor at estimating speed.

Filmore (1971) Suggested that the words smashed

and hit may imply different rates of speed.

These words lead the listener to assume different consequences to the impacts to which they are referring, with hit being perceived as gentler than smashed.

Aims Loftus and Palmer’s experiment was

actually two experiments.

They wanted to investigate in general how accurate or inaccurate memory was. Specifically they wanted to see the effect of ______________ upon estimates of ______.

leading questionsspeed

Aims Experiment 1

See if the speed estimates would be influenced by the wording of the question asked.

Hit vs Smashed

Aims Experiment 2

To see if the leading questions just changed the responses given to the questions, or whether the participant’s memories had actually altered as a result of the leading questions.

Procedures Loftus and Palmer carried out two

experiments. You need to know detailed procedures for both of them, as well as participant numbers.

Use the information on pg 107 and the original text

Two groups Complete table. When outlining the procedure, be as detailed

but as clear as you can.

Procedures Two groups

Complete table. When outlining the procedure, be as

detailed but as clear as you can.

Go back to your pairs, and share procedures

In pairs, answer questions 1-4

Findings and conclusions Draw two graphs Summarise the results Write in the conclusions

Answer the questions Work together

Evaluating the methodology In pairs

Method Reliability and sampling Validity Ethics

Speed learn

Critically assess with reference to alternative evidence

Match up the study with the description of what the results mean

Use three colours to highlight research that supports, contradicts, or develops Loftus and Palmer’s research.