Study Loftus and Palmer’s car-crash research on reconstructive eyewitness memory, including leading verbs, speed estimates, data conclusions and real-life application.
In criminological psychology, you will have learned about the following classic study in detail:
- Loftus and Palmer (1974) Reconstruction of an auto mobile destruction: An example of the interaction between language and memory.
Assess whether this study can be applied to eyewitness memory in real-life situations.
AO1 (4 marks), AO3 (4 marks)
AO1
- 45 participants in the study were shown films clips on video, each
involving a traffic accident.
- The participants had a questionnaire to complete at the end of each
film they watched.
- Leading questions elicited higher speed estimates, 'smashed' resulted
in 40.5mph compared to 'hit' which was 34.0mph.
AO3
- Using a large sample of participants gives the findings strong
generalisability to the likely recall of witnesses in real life, so can be
applied to actual eyewitness memory.
- Demand characteristics from repeating the task may mean
participants guessed the aim, so it is an unreliable test of eyewitness
memory in real-life where a crime would be seen once.
- Eyewitnesses to crimes are not usually questioned using a pre-
prepared questionnaires, therefore this lacks task validity so their
results may not apply to real life crime.
- The results indicate leading questions can alter recall which should be
applied to interviewing eyewitnesses to ensure accuracy.
Look for other reasonable marking points.
(8)
\begin{tabular}[t]{|l|l|l|}
\hline Level
Mark
Descriptor
AO1 (4 marks), AO3 (4 marks)
Candidates must demonstrate an equal emphasis between knowledge and
understanding vs assessment/conclusion in their answer.
0
No rewardable material.
Level 1
1-2
Marks
Demonstrates isolated elements of knowledge and understanding. (AO1)
Generic assertions may be presented. Limited attempt to address the
question. (AO3)
Level 2
3-4
Marks
Demonstrates mostly accurate knowledge and understanding. (AO1)
Candidates will produce statements with some development in the form of
mostly accurate and relevant factual material, leading to a generic or
superficial assessment being presented. (AO3)
Level 3
5-6
Marks
Demonstrates accurate knowledge and understanding. (AO1)
Arguments developed using mostly coherent chains of reasoning. leading to
an assessment being presented which considers a range of factors.
Candidates will demonstrate understanding of competing arguments/factors
but unlikely to grasp their significance. The assessment leads to a
judgement but this may be imbalanced. (AO3)
Level 4
7-8
Marks
Demonstrates accurate and thorough knowledge and understanding. (AO1)
Displays a well-developed and logical assessment, containing logical chains
of reasoning throughout. Demonstrates an awareness of the significance of
competing arguments/factors leading to a balanced judgement being
presented. (AO3)
\begin{tabular}[t]{|l|l|l|}
\hline