Transcript loftus-and-palmer-2011-nm

Loftus and Palmer
(1974)
Reconstruction of
Automobile
Destruction
Experiment into false memory
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfhIu
aD183I
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).
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7/7 Bombings evidence of false
memories
Reconstructive Memory
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Bartlett (1932) and Schemas
Memory is not a direct record of what
was witnessed
What is encoded and how it is
retrieved depends on:
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Information already stored in memory
How this info is understood, structured
and organised
www.psychlotron.org.
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Schema Driven Processing
Yes. I can
recognise
speech.
www.psychlotron.org.
Can you
wreck a
nice
beach?
Bartlett (1932)
Input
Schema
Output
‘Turf cutter’
Bartlett (1932)
www.psychlotron.org.
‘Pickaxe’
War of the Ghosts
One 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
Reproduction
The War of this Ghosts
Two 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)
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War of the Ghosts
When recalled by UK PPs:
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Shorter
Less detailed
Some details changed (e.g. seal hunting
changed to fishing)
More ‘Western’ structure
www.psychlotron.org.
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Past experiences
Assumptions about
what usually
happens
Stereotypes &
beliefs about crime
& criminals
www.psychlotron.org.
EWT: Schema Driven Errors
performance
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arousal
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 poor
www.psychlotron.org.
EWT: Arousal Effects
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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
www.psychlotron.org.
EWT: Weapon Focus
EWT: Retrieval Cues
Recall typically takes place in a
different context to acquisition
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Lack of retrieval cues (state and context)
can inhibit recall
Reconstruction of the events (either
imagination or simulation) can lead to
enhanced recall
www.psychlotron.org.
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Plenary
What are the different factors that affect
recall that we have discussed today?
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Loftus and Palmer (1974)
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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?
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The Innocence project
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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.
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The study by Loftus and Palmer
took place in 1974. Why is this
relevant to the context?
Carmichael (1932)
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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)
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Carmichael’s experiment suggests
that memory is not always
accurate.
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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)
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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)
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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
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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
questions upon
the effect of leading
______________
estimates of speed
______.
Aims
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Experiment 1
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See if the speed estimates would be
influenced by the wording of the question
asked.
Hit vs Smashed
Aims
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Experiment 2
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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
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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
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Complete table.
When outlining the procedure, be as detailed
but as clear as you can.
Procedures
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Two groups
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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
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Draw two graphs
Summarise the results
Write in the conclusions
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Answer the questions
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Work together
Evaluating the methodology
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In pairs
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Method
Reliability and sampling
Validity
Ethics
Speed learn
Critically assess with reference to alternative evidence
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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.