Introduction

Cognitive psychology contacts with mental processes such as memory, researches have indicated that his particular cognitive process is not an exact replica of experiences, but is reconstructive. In light of this new research, experiments have tested and shown that memory may be influenced by certain units of knowledge that we have about frequently encountered people, objects or situations called “schemas.” The Schema Theory suggest that all new information interlinks withhold information represented in a schema and can influence memory.

Bartlett

Developed the Schema theory, which eventually became crucial in understanding how reconstructive memory works and the reliability of eyewitness testimony. He suggested that how a person remembers an event is subject to change depending on the person's cultural background and what values they were taught. Therefore, when a person remembers an event, any missing piece of information regarding that event is filled up based on their schema. He tested this in his famous „War of The Ghosts‟ experiment. This was supported by Allport and Postman, in 1947, which aimed to test the reliability of memory and the effect a person's schema has on their interpretation of an event.

Loftus and Palmer

Tested their hypothesis that language can alter reconstructive memory in an eyewitness testimony. Their aim was to show that leading questions can alter memory depending on its phrasing. Loftus and Palmer formed an opportunity sample consisting of 45 American students separated into 5 groups/conditions (9 in each). They were shown short clips from safety films made for driver education and ranged from 5 to 30 seconds long. Following each clip, the students were asked to answer a questionnaire based on the video they had just seen. The critical question was to do with the speed of the vehicles involved in the collision. Each group was then given a questionnaire to describe the car accident with a certain critical question inserted. Each condition was given the same critical question with a different verb used; about how fast were the cars going when the smashed/ collided/ bumped/ hit/contacted into each other? The independent variable was the wording of the critical question and the dependent variable was the estimated speed from the participants. They found that as the intensity of the verb grew, so did the resultant estimated speed from the participants. Loftus and Palmer concluded that based on their schemas of the verbs, the participants estimated higher speeds because the intensity of the verb led them to estimate higher or lower speeds. Due to the implications of the Loftus and Palmer study, this experiment will attempt to re-create and verify the results. The experiment will try to replicate the conditions in the Loftus and Palmer experiment as much as possible.

Null Hypothesis: There will be no or very little change in the estimated speeds between the conditions.

Research Hypothesis: There will be a significant difference in the estimated speeds between the conditions.

Citations:

Crane, J., Hannibal, J. (2009) IB Diploma Programme: Psychology Course Companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Mcleod, Saul. "Loftus and Palmer." - Simply Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.

Elizabeth F. Loftus, John C. Palmer (1974 April 17). Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction: An Example of the Interaction Between Language and Memory. Retrieved from https://webfiles.uci.edu/eloftus/LoftusPalmer74.pdf

Hannu Hiltunen
Ms. Hunter
IB Psychology HL
IA Introduction Rough Draft

Introduction
Research question:
Does a leading verb affect the participant’s speed estimations for a car crash?

Review of literature:
The schema theory states that people’s memories are formed in bunches. These bunches are then recalled according to a trigger word. For example, schemas make people recall items such as bookcase, desk, computer and pens when shown the word office. The schema theory explains how and why the participants are likely to estimate the speed of the car to be higher when presented with a leading verb that activates schemas of high energy car crashes.
Anderson and Pichert (1978) showed how schemas affect the recall of objects in a house from two different viewpoints. The participants had either a homebuyer or burglar schema activated prior to reading a story about a house. Afterwards they were asked what they remembered of the house. The burglar schema participants showed recall of information relevant to burglars while the homebuyer schemas focused on information relevant to buying the home. This shows how the activation of schemas in the same event show changes in the recall of information. (Crane, Hannibal p 72)
Brewer and Treyens (1981) focused on the recall of materials in a generic office with random, unrelated, items also present. The participants were put into an office for 35 seconds and then they were removed from the office. Afterwards, the participants were given oral recall, written recall and oral recognition tests to see what items they remembered from the office. Most of the participants recalled items normally associated with an office (e.g. stapler, desk, computer, etc.) and did not remember the unrelated items (e.g. brick, skull, umbrella, etc.). This study shows how schemas are able to influence the recall of an event, even after a short time, much like watching a short clip of a car crash.
The following experiment will replicate the study conducted by Loftus and Palmer (1974) that investigated the effect of leading verbs on speed estimates of a car crash. Loftus and Palmer would show a video of a car crash to the participants. After watching the video, the participants would receive one of five leading questions, each containing a different verb designed to extract a certain answer from the participants. The researchers found that leading verbs associated with higher amounts of energy received higher speed estimates than the ones associated with lower amounts of energy (Loftus and Palmer 1974).

Hypotheses:
Experimental hypothesis:
The leading verbs of contacted, hit, bumped, collided and smashed will provide different speed estimates in ascending order with contacted being the lowest and smashed being the highest, as the brain reconstructs memories when presented with leading verbs about the crash situation.
Null hypothesis:
The leading verbs of contacted, hit, bumped, collided and smashed will provide various speed estimates in an erratic manner due to the randomness of participants and there is no correlation between the leading verb and the speed estimates. Aim:
The aim of the following study is to determine the effects of a leading verb on speed estimates of the car crash.

Citations:
Elizabeth F. Loftus, John C. Palmer (1974 April 17). Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction: An Example of the Interaction Between Language and Memory. Retrieved from https://webfiles.uci.edu/eloftus/LoftusPalmer74.pdf

Crane, J., Hannibal, J. (2009) IB Diploma Programme: Psychology Course Companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.