... the correct answer). Loftus and Palmer (1974) showed participants a film of a car accident, and later asked them questions relating to it. Each participant was asked to estimate how fast the car was travelling when it 'hit' the other car. By replacing the word 'hit' with the word 'smashed' Loftus and Palmer were able to increase the estimated speed given by participants. This study provides evidence that the language used in a question can distort recall. When questioned later about the amount of glass at the scene more of the participants that had been in the 'smashed' condition reported seeing glass than the participants in the 'hit' condition, when actually there was none. Showing that information given after the event can alter a witness memory of the original event. Loftus and Zanni (1974) as cited in Eysenck and Keane (2000) found that even trivial differences in the way a ...

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