Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An example of the interaction between language and memory

doi:10.1016/S0022-5371(74)80011-3

Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior

Volume 13, Issue 5, October 1974, Pages 585-589

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(74)80011-3 Get rights and content

Two experiments are reported in which subjects viewed films of automobiled accidents and then answered questions about events occurring in the films. The question, “About how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?” elicited higher estimates of speed than questions which used the verbs collided, bumped, contacted, or hit in place of smashed. On a retest one week later, those subjects who received the verb smashed were more likely to say “yes” to the question, “Did you see any broken glass?”, even though broken glass was not present in the film. These results are consistent with the view that the questions asked subsequent to an event can cause a reconstruction in one's memory of that event.

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¹: This research was supported by the Urban Mass Transportation Adminstration, Department of Transportation, Grant No. WA-11-0004. Thanks go to Geoffrey Loftus, Edward E. Smith, and Stephen Woods for many important and helpful comments, Reprint requests should be sent to Elizabeth F. Loftus. Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195.

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Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An example of the interaction between language and memory1

Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior

The influence of the press upon the accuracy of report

Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology

Memory and the experience of duration in retrospect

Memory & Cognition

An experimental study of the effect of language on the reproduction of visually perceived form

Journal of Experimental Psychology

Nature of the effect of verbal labels on recognition memory for form

Journal of Experimental Psychology