(9) Unit 1 - Classic Research: Loftus and Palmer (1974) - Reconstruction of automobile destruction

What is one strength of Loftus and Palmer’s methodology?

There are high levels of control.

How were there high levels of control?

The study was laboratory-based so there was high control of confounding variables and the researchers could ensure that a range of factors such as the age of participants, the incident viewed and the environment, for example, did not affect the results.

What is an example of the high levels of control?

Participants all watched the same videos, were asked the same question (with small differences) and overall, the procedure was standardised. This means that all participants had a consistent experience.

Therefore, why is there being high levels of control a strength and Loftus and Palmer’s methodology?

They could ensure that these factors did not affect the respondent’s answers and that only the verb condition was causing the participants to re-evaluate their memories, meaning that there was high internal validity.

What is one weakness of Loftus and Palmer’s methodology in terms of their sample?

They only used students.

Who was the sample made of?

There were 45 students from the University of Washington, but these were not representative of the general population.

Why is this sample an issue?

Differences between students and the broader population such as age, memory, abilities, learning habits, driving experience and susceptibility to demand characteristics make it difficult to generalise findings. For example, their lack of driving experience means they could be influenced by the verb in the question.

Therefore, why is the sample only being made up of students a weakness?

Students are not a reliable sample population.

What was one strength of Loftus and Palmer’s procedures?

Their research is reliable due to a lack of order effects.

Why is a lack of order effects beneficial?

The order of the seven clips was changed for the participants, meaning that some would have watched video 1 first, and others would have watched it last.

What does the lack of order effects mean for the research?

This means that the research had high internal validity and reliability as this counter balances the clips, eliminating order effects and meaning that they results are not caused by practice or fatigue.

Therefore, why is Loftus and Palmer’s research strong?

Because it is reliable.

What is one weakness of Loftus and Palmer’s procedures?

The lack of ecological validity.

Why does the research lack ecological validity?

Participants watched staged video clips of accidents rather than real accidents. This may have changed the participant’s reaction to the stimuli.

Why is these videos being staged an issue?

There is a lack of emotional impact as participants would be less likely to pay attention as a result. Watching a real crash provides much more context as they are largely unexpected in real life. The questioning was also unrealistic as there was no consequence for getting the speed wrong.

Therefore, why does the experiment lack ecological validity?

As it is a laboratory experiment and thus may not tell us about how people’s memories are affected by leading questions in real life.