Schema theory was used to explain why people leave out details when they remember stories and use 'rationalisations' to make sense of the story. Loftus and Palmer were interested in how you can change an eyewitness' recollection by subsequently introducing new information after the event.

Loftus and Palmer carried out 2 experiments to investigate the effects of language on memory.

IV: the verb used in the leading question experiment (smashed, collided, bumped, hit, contacted)

DV: the mean speed in MPH (estimated)

45 students, 9 participants providing data for each condition

Staged car crash videos were shown, 5-35 seconds long. Questionnaires were given to participants to complete after each clip. 2 parts: first asked to give an account of the accident and secondly a series of questions asked, including a question regarding the speed of the vehicle. The order the 7 clips were mixed to stop order effects. The critical question was 'how fast were the cars going when they xxxxxxx into each other?' (bumped,smashed,collided,contacted,hit)

To see if participants asked the 'smashed' question would be more likely than two other groups to report seeing broken glass in a filmed accident, when tested 1 week later.

DV: whether the answer to the broken glass question was yes or no.

150 students, 3 groups with 50 in each condition

Two part procedure with participants seeing the film and filling in one of the three versions of the questionnaire 1 on one day and returning a week later to complete the questionnaire.

Smashed condition- 16, hit condition- 7, control- 6

smashed condition- 34, hit condition- 43, condition- 44

The questions asked after an event can cause a reconstruction in ones memory of the event.