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Figure 8.20 Misinformation Effect
Participants viewed a film of a traffic accident and then answered a question about the accident. According to
random assignment, the verb in the question was filled by either “hit,” “smashed,” or “contacted” each other. The
wording of the question influenced the participants’ memory of the accident.
Source: Adapted from Loftus, E. F., & Palmer, J. C. (1974). Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An example of
the interaction between language and memory. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 13(5), 585–589.
In addition to distorting our memories for events that have actually occurred, misinformation
may lead us to falsely remember information that never occurred. Loftus and her colleagues
asked parents to provide them with descriptions of events that did (e.g., moving to a new house)
and did not (e.g., being lost in a shopping mall) happen to their children. Then (without telling
the children which events were real or made-up) the researchers asked the children to imagine
both types of events. The children were instructed to “think real hard” about whether the events
had occurred (Ceci, Huffman, Smith, & Loftus, 1994). [12] More than half of the children
generated stories regarding at least one of the made-up events, and they remained insistent that
the events did in fact occur even when told by the researcher that they could not possibly have
occurred (Loftus & Pickrell, 1995). [13] Even college students are susceptible to manipulations
that make events that did not actually occur seem as if they did (Mazzoni, Loftus, & Kirsch,
2001). [14]
The ease with which memories can be created or implanted is particularly problematic when the
events to be recalled have important consequences. Therapists often argue that patients may
repress memories of traumatic events they experienced as children, such as childhood sexual