A local council investigated a minor collision where an autonomous delivery drone crash-landed onto a wooden park bench.
Shortly after the incident, witnesses were split into two groups and questioned. Group 1 were asked: "About how fast was the drone traveling when it smashed into the bench?" Group 2 were asked: "About how fast was the drone traveling when it hit the bench?"
One week later, without viewing any further footage, all witnesses were asked: "Did you see any splintered wood on the ground?" (although the bench was completely undamaged). A much higher proportion of witnesses in Group 1 estimated a faster speed and falsely remembered seeing splintered wood compared to Group 2.
Using the scenario above, explain how leading questions can affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. Support your answer with evidence from the scenario and your psychological knowledge.
163 exam-style questions on OCR A Level Psychology Memory, covering Loftus and Palmer (1974): Eyewitness testimony and Grant et al. (1998): Context-dependent memory. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.