Chapter 1. Misinformation Effect

Introduction

Cognitive Tool Kit
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Misinformation Effect

This experiment is a replication of one of Elizabeth Loftus’s Misinformation Effect experiments. Loftus found that the accuracy of what is remembered from a particular situation relies to some extent upon the style and content of the questions asked of witnesses. Lawyers are well aware of this fact and tailor their questions to elicit the responses they seek. This was Loftus’s original inspiration for this work—the idea that eyewitness testimony can be altered or enhanced witnesses’ interactions with the police or attorneys after the fact. Defense attorneys have often called upon Loftus as an expert witness to testify to the fallibility of eyewitness testimony.

References:

Loftus, E. F. (2005). Planting misinformation in the human mind: A 30-year investigation of the malleability of memory. Learning & Memory, 12, 361-366.

Loftus, E. F. (2005). Searching for the neurobiology of the misinformation effect. Learning & Memory, 12, 1-2.

Loftus, E. F., & Palmer, J. C. (1974). Reconstruction of an automobile destruction: An example of the interaction between language and memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 13, 585-589.

Experiment Setup

Instructions

Instructions

You will need to press the space bar to begin the experiment. You will then be shown a film. When it ends, you will be asked a series of questions about it. Please answer as accurately as you can.

Experiment

Begin Experiment

Results

Results

Quiz

Quiz

Question 1.1

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The independent variable is the value that is changed by the experimenter. The independent variable in this experiment is the choice of word in the target sentence in the postevent questionnaire (contacted, hit, bumped, collided, smashed).

Question 1.2

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The dependent variable is the value the experimenter collects to indicate how you performed in the experiment. In this case, the dependent variable is the participants’ estimation of speed of the two cars involved in the crash.

Question 1.3

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Elizabeth Loftus is responsible for the discovery of the misinformation effect. This is the memory phenomenon that occurs when postevent false information is imparted to a witness and influences that individual’s recollection of the event.

Question 1.4

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Elizabeth Loftus has demonstrated that memory can be altered by erroneous information taken in after an event occurs. This memory phenomenon is known as the Misinformation Effect.

Question 1.5

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Because her research calls into question the validity of eyewitness testimony, Elizabeth Loftus is frequently employed as an expert witness for the defense.