Abstract
Previous research has demonstrated that the content of eyewitness recollections is affected by suggestions conveyed during questioning. For the present study, we took advantage of an unexpected occurrence in order to assess the extent to which these reported effects generalize from the recall of specific events viewed under controlled conditions to the recollection of personal characteristics observed naturalistically. After two weeks of teaching, a sudden disability made it impossible for an instructor to meet his classes; students were then questioned about his appearance by a replacement instructor. Questions were phrased either with an indefinite article or with a possessive pronoun which conveyed a false presupposition that the instructor possessed certain personal attributes. More incorrect and uncertain recollections were reported in response to questions containing false presuppositions than to questions phrased with an indefinite article. The results support and extend the existing literature on the suggestibility that characterizes eyewitness testimony.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Buckhout, R. (1974). Eyewitness testimony. Scientific American, 231(6), 23–31.
Cattell, J. M. (1887). Experiments on the association of ideas. Mind, 12, 68–74.
Loftus, E. F. (1975). Leading questions and the eyewitness report. Cognitive Psychology, 7, 560–572.
Loftus, E. F. (1979). Reactions to blatantly contradictory information. Memory & Cognition, 7, 368–374.
Loftus, E. F., Miller, D. G., & Burns, H. J. (1978). Semantic integration of verbal information into a visual memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning & Memory, 4, 19–31.
Loftus, E. F., & Palmer, J. C. (1974). Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An example of the interaction between language and memory. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 13, 585–589.
Loftus, E. F., & Zanni, G. (1975). Eyewitness testimony: The influence of the wording of a question. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 5, 86–88.
McCloskey, M., & Egeth, H. E. (1983). Eyewitness identification: What can a psychologist tell a jury? American Psychologist, 38, 550–563.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The presentation of this report was supported by a grant from the Charles and Johanna Busch Memorial Fund.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Davis, J., Schiffman, H.R. The influence of the wording of interrogatives on the accuracy of eyewitness recollections. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 23, 394–396 (1985). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330194
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330194