Memory distortions: When suggestions cannot be easily ignored

Abstract

In the present study, the persistence of personal false memories (FM) after social feedback that denies their truth was assessed with a procedure similar to Nash, Wade and Lindsay (2009b). Participants imitated actions performed by the experimenter (Session 1) and watched a doctored video with performed and critical "fake" actions (Session 2), followed by a memory rating and a recognition task. A few days later (Session 3) participants were clearly told that some memories were false and received daily reminders of the correct list of objects/actions before testing their memory again in Session 4. Results of both memory ratings and recognition indicated effective FM implantation. Interestingly, response times for correct rejections were longer for fake than true objects, suggesting participants struggled to ignore false suggestions. Crucial for our aim, Session 4 showed that FM persisted also after the debriefing and repeated presentations of correct list of objects/actions, suggesting that FM for actions are rather difficult to discard.

Fool me twice: how effective is debriefing in false memory studies?

“…If tested later, would they now remember the true detail (green) or would they remember the misinformation (brown)? In other areas of psychological research, studies have shown that retracting information does not entirely remove its sway (Cabalo et al, 2020;de Keersmacker & Roets, 2017;Thorson, 2016). This 'continued influence effect' (Johnson & Seifert, 1994) is often evident even when warnings are provided to participants before exposure (Ecker et al, 2010).…”

Rich false memories of autobiographical events can be reversed

“…Specifically, previous attempts at reversing false memories have been limited in two important respects: First, they involved mostly small and peripheral details of observed events [i.e., using the eyewitness misinformation paradigm (39)] or laboratory-produced mini-events [such as clicking one's fingers (40)], both of which lack the embeddedness of autobiographical memories within the person's life story. Second, almost all of these studies used reversal techniques that are impossible to implement or highly implausible in the real world, such as positively telling participants that some events had merely been suggested or even identifying those events (15,16,(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45). This not only requires privileged knowledge on the part of the investigator but also creates a highly targeted response set in participants (i.e., trying to positively identify the false events) that is unlikely to be transferable to real-world settings.…”