portrayed the event as more serious than it actually had been
Explanation:
In the question above, when Loftus and Palmer asked the observers about the accident condition then the observers portrayed the event as more serious than it had been because they have developed the false memories.
False memory: In psychology, the term false memories is defined as a condition in which an individual generally remembers a particular event differently from the way it has happened or in a more dramatic way that has not happened at all. An individual experiencing false memory explains a particular situation with high confidence.
