Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus Had Participants in One Study Watch a Film

question 12

Multiple Choice

Psychologist Elizabeth Loftus had participants in one study watch a film about an auto accident, write a description of the accident, and then answer a series of questions, which were different for different groups of participants. A week later, the participants were questioned again. What was one basic finding of the study?

• A)Participants who were asked how fast the cars were going when they "contacted each other" gave the highest speed estimates.
• B)Participants who had themselves been in auto accidents confused details of their own accidents with details from the film, an example of source confusion.
• C)Participants who were shown photographs of the drivers and passengers had more vivid memories of the accident than participants who did not see photographs, an example of imagination inflation.
• D)Participants who were asked how fast the cars were going when they "smashed into each other" mistakenly remembered seeing broken glass in the film, an example of the misinformation effect.

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