A Level Psychology OCR Practice Exam

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What type of questions were participants asked in Loftus and Palmer's first experiment before the key question?

Distractor questions
Descriptive questions
Follow-up questions
Feedback questions

The correct answer is: Distractor questions

In Loftus and Palmer's first experiment, participants were initially exposed to a series of questions designed to lead them into the key inquiry regarding their recollection of a car accident. The type of questions administered before the key question were distracting in nature; they pertained to details not directly related to the incident, thereby serving to occupy the participants' attention and ensure they focused on the specifics being tested. This approach helped set up the experimental conditions effectively, allowing researchers to assess how the wording of the critical question would influence participants' memories. Consequently, these distractor questions played a foundational role in the experimental design, highlighting how memory can be impacted by external cues and presented information. This aligns with the main focus of Loftus and Palmer's research, which emphasized the malleability of human memory.