The Changes in Your Memory How good is your memory? In 1975 Elizabeth Loftus, a researcher at the University of Washington, conducted an experiment that signifies if a person will remember an event that happened the way it actually took place. These witnesses have shown that when an event is recalled it is not accurate to their memory. This leads to false acquisition about the event in which does not represent what actually happened. Based off this study, Loftus focused on the power of questions in which the witness memory is altered on the event. This represents memory conformity in which was used in the experiments conducted to find a conclusion to the cognitive memory.
Experiments and Data Loftus conducted a total of four experiments using 150 subjects for each experiment. Every experiment included 1-2 questionnaires to test their memories of events taken place that they have reviewed. The purpose of these experiments taking place is to focus on the power of questions containing presuppositions to alter a person’s memory of an event. In Experiment 1, researchers placed each subject into two
groups. Each group had 75 subjects that all viewed the same video of a chain reaction car accident where the driver runs through a stop sign causing the accident. However, the two groups were asked the same questions except one question was different at the end of the video. The difference being the first question, group 1 was asked “how fast was the car that ran the stop sign going when it ran the stop sign”; group 2 being asked “how fast was the car going when it turned right”. The last question on the questionnaire for both groups was “did you see a stop sign for the car who caused the crash”. The outcome of group 1 being 40/75 (53%) subjects saying they saw a stop sign, as for group 2 the outcome consists of 26/75 (35%) claiming they have never seen the stop sign proving this information is statistically significant to this research. For the rest of the experiments conducted, the same group of subjects for Experiment 2 and 3 were asked again if they recalled any of the little details that could have affected the outcome of the research findings. Subjects from Experiment 2 and 3 both completed the same original questionnaire they were given a week later to see if anything will change and were both proven to be statistically significant. Loftus however cannot say the same for experiment 4. Based on the outcome of Experiment 4, Loftus wanted to work further
into the previous experiments to see if any outside factors could have created a false presupposition that would have added to the subject’s memory in which they recalled having happened. However, they founded at the end of the experiment that there was not a large enough statistical significance that would have added to their findings in their research. The effects of memory After these experiments were conducted, lawyers who asked the witness complicated questions, received a negative response that lead to inaccuracy of the event. Those that were asked straight forward questions had a positive an accurate response to the event they had witnessed. In the research finding, Loftus concluded that memory does not always give an accurate observation in which one may think they remember seeing. As Loftus stated in her experiment, “I study memory and I am a skeptic,” expresses that her findings are accurate to some but some are said to have better memory than others. It is important in our society today to show awareness to those when being evaluated for a testimony as an eyewitness. Based off these findings, lawyers and juries are able to take in the considerations of how one’s cognitive memory can afflict what they actually saw from what they remember seeing.