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E F Loftus

Publications and source records attributed to E F Loftus.

54 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Vivid persuasion in the courtroom.

When witnesses at a trial offer testimony that is vivid, it may be more persuasive than the same testimony offered in a pallid manner. In this paper we elucidate three categories of variables (inferential, attentional/memorial, and affective) that are likely to mediate the effects of the vividness of testimony on jury judgments. These variables are then used to explain discrepant findings among mock juror experiments investigating vividness effects. Finally, we discuss the implications of vividness effects for the legal system.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1985

Cognitive aspects of health survey methodology: an overview.

The past 25 years have seen the development of a wide variety of sample surveys dealing with the nature and distribution of illness and disability, and with the utilization of health care services. The sample survey is currently the most widespread and influential instrument for judging the health status of the nation and for guiding health policy. The knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes of survey respondents "subjectively" affect what the survey seeks to "objectively" measure. Even as statistical sampling has been refined, so is it important to reexamine what the cognitive sciences have to offer for survey interview structure and content.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Recalling pain and other symptoms.

Questions relating to symptoms are an important ingredient in many surveys of health status. Yet, the understanding of mechanisms for the recall of pain, and the cognitive aspects of memory for pain and other symptoms, have eluded investigators. Even within limits imposed by current imperfect knowledge of the physiology of pain, more collaborative research on recall would improve the completeness and accuracy of clinical diagnostic interviews, insurance adjudications, morbidity statistics, and health survey interviews.

Female↗
PubMed1985

Cognitive aspects of health surveys for public information and policy.

Health survey data are an important and efficient source of information for policy makers and administrators. But caution is warranted: surveys do not show cause-and-effect relations, and they are no substitute for randomized controlled experimentation in predicting behavior. The variety of surveys--governmental and private--is increasing, and both methodology employed and interpretation of results can be improved in suggested ways.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Psychological aspects of courtroom testimony.

As jurors in a criminal or civil trial listen to testimony, they construct in their minds an "image" of an incident that was never witnessed by them. Many psychological factors influence this mental construction and, consequently, the verdict. Research with experimental jurors has revealed: 1. The images that jurors construct are influenced by the particular words and phrases that are used in the testimony they hear. 2. Jurors tend to be overbelieving of certain types of evidence, such as eyewitness testimony. Jurors are particularly responsive to the confidence with which eyewitnesses relate their testimony, rather than to the likelihood that the testimony is accurate. 3. Expert testimony, particularly on the subject of the reliability of eyewitness accounts, can cause jurors to better scrutinize the evidence they hear.

Crime↗
PubMed1979

Integration of verbal and visual information as evidenced by distortions in picture memory.

Subjects were presented with a series of pictures, some of which were general (girl walking down the path) and others specific (girl hiking down the path). These pictures were matched with sentences which were either general or specific ("The girl is walking [hiking] down the path.") Subsequently, a forced-choice picture recognition test was administered in which subjects saw pairs of pictures and indicated which member of each pair they had seen before. It was found that labelling the picture with a sentence containing a specific verb substantially increased the likelihood that the specific picture corresponding to that verb would subsequently be falsely recognized. The results are discussed in terms of current theories of memorial representation.

Cues↗
PubMed1978

Calling Nurse Blaze: tailoring programs to fit human behavior.

Researchers conducted a study to analyze hospital fire safety procedures and training, with a particular emphasis on verbal alarm systems. Their findings are presented, along with recommendations for fire safety training and a suggestion from a verbal fire alarm message.

Fires↗
PubMed1978

Semantic integration of verbal information into a visual memory.

A total of 1,242 subjects, in five experiments plus a pilot study, saw a series of slides depicting a single auto-pedestrian accident. The purpose of these experiments was to investigate how information supplied after an event influences a witness's memory for that event. Subjects were exposed to either consistent, misleading, or irrelevant information after the accident event. Misleading information produced less accurate responding on both a yes-no and a two-alternative forced-choice recognition test. Further, misleading information had a larger impact if introduced just prior to a final test rather than immediately after the initial event. The effects of misleading information cannot be accounted for by a simple demand-characteristics explanation. Overall, the results suggest that information to which a witness is exposed after an event, whether that information is consistent or misleading, is integrated into the witness's memory of the event.

Auditory Perception↗