Week Six - Misinformation & False Memories

Question 1

The misinformation effect?

Answer 1

The tendency for post-event information to interfere with the memory of the original event.

POST EVENT INFO

• From a police interviewer; a therapist; the media
• – Leading question
• – Presentation of modified details
• – Presentation of non-existent details

Question 2

Oklahoma Bombing misinformation effect?

Answer 2

• 3 key witnesses all worked at truck hire shop.
• 1 witness claimed McVeigh was accompanied by a second man, but the other 2 did not initially recall an accomplice.
• Later, all 3 claimed to remember details of this second person.
• The witnesses admitted to discussing memories

Question 3

Co-witness discussion stat?

Answer 3

common: 58% of cases in one study
lab: 71% of witnesses incorporated co-witness misinformation

Question 4

Co-witness discussion effects and why?

Answer 4

Can occur even for high-confidence memories

Stronger effect among friends/partners cf. strangers

Causes at least some “memory blends” (cf. memerly compliant)
- bit of both

PS ATTRIBUTE IT TO

• memory (48%)
• discussion (35%)
• don’t know (17%)

Question 5

Three step model of creating a genuine false memory?

Answer 5

1. Perceive target event as plausible
2. Come to believe it happened
3. Reinterpret images and narrative to form a memory
   - can tick 2 but not 3 and vice versa
   e. g., I believe I was born but I have no memory of it

Question 6

Lost in the mall study

Answer 6

–Ps read journal extracts of true events (& false event)
–7 of 24 adults “remembered” being lost
– full or partial recall

Question 7

Role of photographs in false memories?

Answer 7

50% of Ps “remembered” the ride when photoshop was present over interviews

Question 8

Role of non-relevant photographs in false memories?

Answer 8

– Old school yearbook photo (Lindsay et al., 2004)
– Memory for “slime” incident
- showing non-relevant photo increased ‘memory’ by 60%

Question 9

Forgetting of prior remembering?

Answer 9

Participants do remember but it depends on context (diff context = accuracy lower)

Question 10

How can language effect memory?

Answer 10

Car crash study
- smashed
- hit
- contacted
people in smashed conditioned said cars were going faster

Question 11

What is source monitoring?

Answer 11

Trying to remember the context of a memory, where this memory came from
eg do i remember this or did i pick it up from discussions with such and such

Question 12

Two types of memories?

Answer 12

True vs false

Question 13

A true memory is?

Answer 13

externally (experienced)

Question 14

A false memory is?

Answer 14

internally generated (imagined)

Question 15

True vs false memory

Answer 15

IN TRUE MEMORY
– More sensory / perceptual detail
• Visual, sound, smell, taste
– More contextual detail
• Time, location, spatial arrangement of objects

Question 16

Source monitoring errors more likely to occur when?

Answer 16

AMBIGUITY
– More ambiguous = source errors more likely
– Replace with schema-consistent information

COMPLETENESS OF EVENT
– Incomplete = source errors more likely
- We fill in gaps consistent with story eg making sandwhich

Question 17

Individual differences and source monitoring (2)

Answer 17

WORKING MEMORY
– Directing attentional resources
– Greater WMC: Less susceptible

AGE
– Older: difficulty recalling context (actions watched vs. performed)
– Children: generally more susceptible to source
monitoring errors
• Report thought-about events as real