For this task you will examine the experiments of Loftus and Gardner. Describe a

Question

For this task you will examine the experiments of Loftus and Gardner. Describe and analyze each of these experiments. You will prepare two separate analyses; for each analysis, include the following:

A summary of at least one recent experiment (within the past two years) that is related to the seminal experiment (Hint: Excellent sources for recent research summaries are the American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology and the Association for Psychological Science).

Your own evaluation of whether the breakthrough experiments of Drs. Gardner and Loftus were examples of genius, the zeitgeist, or some other factor. Use their own autobiographical accounts as well as your analyses of their experiments and personal stories to support your opinion.

Explanation / Answer

Psychologist Loftus has been particularly associated with the study of how subsequent information can affect an eyewitness’s account of an event. Her main focus has been on the influence of leading or misleading information in terms of both visual imagery and formation of questions in relation to eyewitness testimony.

Her findings in fact seem to indicate that memory for an event that has been witnessed is highly flexible. This means that the memory one holds of events is not rigid per se. For instance, if someone is exposed to new information during the interval between witnessing the event and recalling it, this new information may have marked effects on what they recall. The original memory can be modified, changed or supplemented according to the context within which it is attempted to be recalled. The methodology used to investigate this was experimental design whereby forty-five American students formed an opportunity sample. This was a laboratory experiment, i.e. with controlled conditions in order to understand the relationship. 7 films of traffic accidents, ranging in duration from 5 to 30 seconds, were presented in a random order to each of the groups.

After watching the film participants were asked to describe what had happened as if they were eyewitnesses. They were then asked specific questions, including the question “About how fast were the cars going when they (smashed / collided / bumped / hit / contacted) each other?”

Thus, the IV was the wording of the question and the DV was the speed reported by the participants. The findings were in fact clearly suggestive that there was a response bias in who was responding to the questions and memories were observed to be flexible and varying too.

Howard Gardner of Harvard has identified seven distinct intelligences. This theory has emerged from recent cognitive research and "documents the extent to which students possess different kinds of minds and therefore learn, remember, perform, and understand in different ways," according to Gardner (1991). This led to his pioneer work containing the theory of multiple intelligences. This is a framework which many psychologists use till date in order to work with their clients who may have cognitive deficits or concerns.

The two types of work have been established by different researchers who had a completely varying outlook as well as modality of work. However, they have made such significant and prominent contributions to the world of psychology that their frameworks are utilised in various field to date.

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