leading question

Examples of leading question in the following topics:

• Memory Distortions and Biases

  • Much research has shown that the phrasing of questions can also alter memories.
  • A leading question is a question that suggests the answer or contains the information the examiner is looking for.
  • For instance, one study showed that simply changing one word in a question could alter participants' answers: After viewing video footage of a car accident, participants who were asked how "slow" the car was going gave lower speed estimations than those who were asked how "fast" it was going.
  • Children are particularly suggestible to such leading questions.
  • Evaluate how mood, suggestion, and imagination can lead to memory errors or bias

• Considerations for Eyewitness Testimony

  • Eyewitness testimony has been considered a credible source in the past, but its reliability has recently come into question.
  • In a legal context, the retrieval of information is usually elicited through different types of questioning.
  • A great deal of research has investigated the impact of types of questioning on eyewitness memory, and studies have consistently shown that even very subtle changes in the wording of a question can have an influence.
  • Younger witnesses, especially children, are more susceptible to leading questions and misinformation.
  • Likewise, factors that interfere with a witness's ability to get a clear view of the event—like time of day, weather, and poor eyesight—can all lead to false recollections.

• Cognitive Development in Adolescence

  • Being able to introspect may lead to two forms of egocentrism, or self-focus, in adolescents, which result in two distinct problems in thinking: the imaginary audience (when an adolescent believes everyone is listening to him or her) and the personal fable (which causes adolescents to feel that nothing harmful could ever happen to them).
  • Adolescents are more likely to engage in relativistic thinking—in other words, they are more likely to question others' assertions and less likely to accept information as absolute truth.
  • This can lead to a period of questioning authority in all domains.

• Surveys and Interviews

  • "Closed-ended questions" are questions that limit the person taking the survey to choose from a set of responses.
  • Multiple choice, check all that apply, and ratings scale questions are all examples of closed-ended questions.
  • "Open-ended questions" are simply questions that allow people to write in their own response.
  • There can be discrepancies between respondents' stated opinions and their actual opinions that lead to fundamental inaccuracies in the data.
  • Questions should be clear, address only one topic at a time, and avoid leading the respondent to a specific answer (in other words, a question should not suggest the correct response in how it is worded).

• Introduction to Sleep

  • Research on rats has found that a week of no sleep leads to loss of immune function, and two weeks of no sleep leads to death.
  • Despite its clear importance to psychological and physiological functioning, researchers have struggled for centuries to answer the question of why we sleep.
  • We also know that extended sleeplessness can lead to hallucinations, delusions, loss of immune function, and in extreme cases, death.
  • Lack of sleep can also lead to serious health consequences, jeopardizing individual safety and the safety of others.

• Prejudice

  • Although prejudice may lead to discrimination, the two are separate concepts.
  • While these internal guidelines tend to work well, they can sometimes lead to systematic errors in judgement or cognitive biases.
  • The realistic conflict theory (RCT) states that competition between limited resources leads to increased negative prejudices and discrimination.
  • Research has shown this to be the case, even when the resource in question is insignificant—such as a cheap plastic trinket.

• Comparative Psychology

  • Comparative psychology is the scientific study of animal behavior and mental processes, which can lead to a deeper and broader understanding of human psychology.
  • "Comparative psychology" refers to the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of nonhuman animals (especially as these relate to the adaptation, evolution, and development of behavior), which can lead to a deeper and broader understanding of human psychology.
  • Comparative psychologists study many issues, and typical questions involve the similarities and differences among how humans and animals behave in their environments and day-to-day lives.

• A History of Theories of Consciousness

  • He set out to answer the question of how it is possible that our consciousness, a non-physical thing, can come from our bodies, a physical thing.
  • Freud saw the preconscious as comprised of thoughts that are unconscious at the particular moment in question, but that are not repressed and are therefore available for recall and easily capable of becoming conscious (for example, the tip-of-the-tongue effect).
  • It is important to note that these perspectives are not necessarily mutually exclusive, just different approaches to the same questions.
  • That difference in codification leads to differences in the experience of reality, and therefore of consciousness.

• Heuristics and Cognitive Biases

  • The availability heuristic leads to people overestimating the occurrence of situations they are familiar with.
  • Cognitive biases are another factor that can lead researchers to make incorrect inferences when analyzing data.
  • Hamilton & Rose (1980) found that stereotypes can lead people to expect certain groups and traits to fit together, and then to overestimate the frequency with which these correlations actually occur.
  • The confirmation bias leads to the tendency to search for, or interpret, information in a way that confirms one's existing beliefs.
  • In reality, statistically meaningless data or null findings are common, which is why researchers typically conduct multiple studies to examine their research questions.

• Evaluating the Humanistic Perspective on Personality

  • As with all early psychological studies, questions have been raised about the lack of empirical evidence used in research.
  • Some argue that focusing on the self to such an extent leads to a lack of social functioning.