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False Presuppositions

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An eyewitness can change the course of an investigation. However, how reliable that can be? People believe that we remember an event as exactly as it was, such as replaying the facts. Elizabeth Loftus is one of the leading researchers in the area of memory, and she found that memories are not accurately re-created. Reconstructing facts from our lives cannot be harmful, but it can be critical when deciding a criminal event. Loftus studies demonstrated that a simple wording question might change the eyewitness answer.
Loftus studies were focused on the power of questioning which contain presuppositions and it will alter the person's memory. In fact, if a false presupposition is asked, the new false preposition will be added to the witness testimony. …show more content…

Forty participants watched a short film clip about student revolution. After, the participants answered some questions about it. Half of the participants were asked if the leader of four demonstrates was a male and the other half of the participants if the leader of twelve demonstrates was a male. One week later, both groups were asked new questions about the film but they did not have the chance to watch it again. One of the questions asked was about how many demonstrates were in the film, and the results were higher on the group that it was presupposed to have 12 demonstrators. It can be concluded that a wording of one question can alter the memory regarding an …show more content…

Three groups watched a short film about a car accident involving a man pushing a baby carriage. All fifty participants of each group received a booklet with questions divided by group. Group D (direct question) was asked about nonexistent objects. Group F (false presupposition) received the filler questions and presupposition about the same nonexistent objects. Group C (control group) only filler questions were asked.
One week later all participants returned and new twenty questions were asked. The difference between group D and F were statistically significant compared to the control group.
Based on those experiments, Loftus affirms the inaccuracy of our memory, events may be reconstructed with new information added. Applying those results into criminal investigations based on eyewitness, Loftus pointed out that witness is questioned often more than once. Also, studies have demonstrated that line-up might be a inefficient way of point a suspect since many faces are introduced to the witness. In addition to eyewitness testimony, Loftus is leading also in repressed childhood memory. Most of her experiments demonstrated that repressed childhood memories do not exist. In fact, the most traumatic memories that we experience are the ones that we tend to not forget

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