To test her hypothesis that the language used in
eyewitness testimony can alter memory.
She asked people to estimate the speed of motor
vehicles using different forms of questions.
Estimating vehicle speed is something people are
generally poor at and so they may be more open to
suggestion.
The estimated speed was affected by the verb used.
The participants in the “smashed” condition reported
the highest speed estimate (40.8 mph), followed by
“collided” (39.3 mph), “bumped” (38.1 mph), “hit”
(34 mph), and “contacted” (31.8 mph) in descending
order.