Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction Loftus and Palmer (1974) Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction

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 www.psychlotron.org.uk

Schema Driven Processing Yes. I can recognise speech. Can you wreck a nice beach? www.psychlotron.org.uk

Input Output Schema Bartlett (1932) ‘Pickaxe’ ‘Turf cutter’ www.psychlotron.org.uk Bartlett (1932)

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 dead.

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) 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 www.psychlotron.org.uk

EWT: Schema Driven Errors Past experiences Assumptions about what usually happens Stereotypes & beliefs about crime & criminals www.psychlotron.org.uk

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 poor performance arousal www.psychlotron.org.uk

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 www.psychlotron.org.uk

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 www.psychlotron.org.uk

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 questions speed

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 Go back to your pairs, and share procedures 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.