NCJ Number
159544
Date Published
1994
Length
24 pages
Annotation
The phenomenon by which new information leads to errors in eyewitness reports has been well documented empirically and is often referred to as the misinformation effect.
Abstract
Most research on the impact of misinformation employs a three-stage procedure in which subjects first witness an event by means of a slide sequence of videotape, receive new information about the event, and take a test of their memory for the event. Although the misinformation effect has been well established as a psychological phenomenon and many factors associated with it have been identified, there is little consensus about its interpretation. An issue of considerable debate concerns whether subjects who have received misleading suggestions about an item come to genuinely believe they have actually seen that item which has only been suggested to them. Many researchers report that subjects exposed to misleading postevent information are likely to confidently report such misinformation on subsequent memory tests. The demand characteristic interpretation of results from typical misinformation studies suggests that subjects who base their test responses on memories of suggested items do not really remember seeing such items in the event. Rather, subjects choose the misinformation response because they believe in the accuracy of the narrative and want to appear observant. The need to determine when a subject truly believes he or she has seen a suggested memory is examined, based on empirical studies that show witnesses can exhibit strong beliefs in their memories, even when those memories are verifiably false. 14 references and 5 figures