Theories and Concepts
Misinformation Effect
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The misinformation effect is the finding that a person's recall of an event becomes less accurate when they are exposed to misleading information about that event after it happened. Elizabeth Loftus pioneered its study in the 1970s; her best-known demonstration showed subjects slides of a car accident, then exposed some of them to a false post-event description (a stop sign misdescribed as a yield sign), after which those subjects were significantly more likely to misremember having seen the false detail.
Facts
Core ClaimPost-event information can distort episodic memory of an earlier event; three proposed mechanisms are blending (the original and the misleading information merge), overwriting (the false information replaces the original memory trace), and a recency effect (the more recently encountered misleading information is retrieved more easily than the older original). 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
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This experiment is the founding demonstration of the misinformation effect.
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1. Wikipedia: Misinformation Effect
Wikimedia FoundationLead section and Classic ExperimentQuote, Lead section and Classic Experiment
The misinformation effect occurs when a person's recall of episodic memories becomes less accurate because of post-event information.
1. Wikipedia: Misinformation Effect
Wikimedia FoundationIntroductionQuote, Introduction
Scientists suggest that because the misleading information is the most recent, it is more easily retrieved.
1. Wikipedia: Misinformation Effect
Wikimedia FoundationHistoryQuote, History
Loftus and colleagues conducts early misinformation effect studies in 1974 and 1978.
1. Wikipedia: Misinformation Effect
Wikimedia FoundationDeveloped By: Elizabeth Loftus
1. Wikipedia: Misinformation Effect
Wikimedia FoundationIn Branch: Cognitive Psychology, Neurological causes sectionQuote, In Branch: Cognitive Psychology, Neurological causes section
Retrieval of true memories was associated with greater reactivation of sensory-specific cortices, for example, the occipital cortex for vision.
1. Wikipedia: Misinformation Effect
Wikimedia FoundationIn Branch: Forensic Psychology, Daily applications, eyewitness testimony sectionQuote, In Branch: Forensic Psychology, Daily applications, eyewitness testimony section
After witnessing a crime or accident there may be opportunities for witnesses to interact and share information.
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