Two police officers are at the scene of a traffic accident.After talking to several people,Officer Jones reported the driver who rear-ended the other vehicle was traveling close to 50 mph in a 35 mph zone.Officer Smith,however,disagreed.Based on the people he talked to,the driver was traveling about 38 mph.Their captain asked you to find out how they could disagree so much.You found that Officer Jones asked "how fast was the car moving when it slammed into the other car?" while Officer Smith asked "how fast was the car moving when it bumped into the other car?" and told the captain it was a good example of (the)_________________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The difference in the wording of the two questions asked by the officers could have created a misinformation effect, where the memory of the witnesses could have been altered or distorted by the way the questions were phrased. This could have led to Officer Jones getting a higher estimate of speed than Officer Smith.

Two Police Officers Are at the Scene of a Traffic