The power of emotion versus the power of suggestion: Memory for emotional events in the misinformation paradigm.

Damme, Ilse Van; Smets, Karolien

doi:10.1037/a0034629

Cited by 47 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…For instance, people remembering negative photographs had fewer false memories about central details of the images, but more false memories about peripheral details, than people remembering positive or neutral photographs (Van Damme & Smets, 2014). These findings raise concerns about the accuracy of people's memory for negative, arousing information in legal settings.…”

Section: Emotional Valence and Memorymentioning

confidence: 59%

Emotion and False Memory

et al. 2015

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Emotional memories are vivid and lasting but not necessarily accurate. Under some conditions, emotion even increases people's susceptibility to false memories. This review addresses when and why emotion leaves people vulnerable to misremembering events. Recent research suggests that pregoal emotions-those experienced before goal attainment or failure (e.g., hope, fear)-narrow the scope of people's attention to information that is central to their goals. This narrow focus can impair memory for peripheral details, leaving people vulnerable to misinformation concerning those details. In contrast, postgoal emotions-those experienced after goal attainment or failure (e.g., happiness, sadness)-broaden the scope of attention leaving people more resistant to misinformation. Implications for legal contexts, such as emotion-related errors in eyewitness testimony, are discussed.

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Section: Emotional Valence and Memorymentioning

confidence: 59%

Emotion and False Memory

et al. 2015

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“…In a recent study, Porter et al (2010) found that negative scenes were more susceptible to misinformation effects and altered recall. Similarly, Van Damme and Smets (2014) reported that negative scenes were susceptible to incorporation of misinformation for both central and peripheral details when arousal was high. That said, other studies have found that positive and negative scenes are well-remembered and less susceptible to change or misleading suggestions over time relative to neutral events (Brown and Schaefer 2010).…”

Section: The Misinformation Effect and Emotionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Recent studies have turned their attention to examining misinformation in the context of scenes/events of differing emotional valence (e.g., Porter et al 2010;Van Damme and Smets 2014). While it is generally understood that emotional stimuli tend to be recalled more accurately then neutral stimuli (e.g., Christianson 1992), memory for emotional events also may be subject to distortion under various conditions (i.e., exposure to misinformation; Porter et al 2003).…”

Section: The Misinformation Effect and Emotionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Misremembering Events: Emotional Valence, Psychopathic Traits, and the Misinformation Effect

Peace

Constantin

2015

J Police Crim Psych

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Past research has demonstrated increased susceptibility to misinformation under varying conditions, including negative emotional scenes. In addition, psychopathic traits have been associated with emotional deficits which may lead to differences in memory processing. The present study examined emotional valence and psychopathic traits in relation to the misinformation effect. Participants (n = 334) were exposed to emotional scenes (positive, neutral, negative), completed a measure of psychopathic traits (PPI-R), and were asked either misleading or nonleading questions. Accuracy and susceptibility to misinformation were assessed through a series of open-ended questions and accuracy scoring. Accuracy was highest for both emotional (60%) relative to neutral (53.9%) images. Memory differences in recall of negative versus positive scenes was evidenced dependent on attentional focus. Participants in the misled condition were less accurate in their recall overall, and recalled more misleading information (41.18% relative to 14.16%). In addition, individuals who received misleading suggestions were more likely to incorporate the major misleading detail into their memory for the negative scene. Psychopathic traits were not related to accuracy; however, those high in psychopathic traits tended to incorporate more misinformation into memory. Our results have important implications concerning how individuals remember emotional events, including people high in psychopathic traits, and follow up studies considering attention/motivation and misinformation are required.

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“…For instance, people remembering negative photographs had fewer correct and more false memories about peripheral details of the images than people remembering positive or neutral photographs (Van Damme & Smets, 2014). Similarly, false memory studies using other paradigms have shown an increased likelihood of false memories for negative materials, both in children and in adults (e.g., Brainerd, Holliday, Reyna, Yang, & Toglia, 2010;Dehon, Laroi, & Van der Linden, 2010;Otgaar, Candel, & Merckelbach, 2008).…”

Section: Article Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Narrowing attention to particular features of an event implies that the other features will not receive attention, leading to poor memory. However, attention narrowing does not necessarily enhance memory for attended information (Van Damme & Smets, 2014;Wessel & Merckelbach, 1997).…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotion and false memory: How goal-irrelevance can be relevant for what people remember

Damme

Kaplan

Levine

et al. 2016

Memory

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Elaborating on misleading information concerning emotional events can lead people to form false memories. The present experiment compared participants' susceptibility to false memories when they elaborated on information associated with positive versus negative emotion and pregoal versus postgoal emotion. Pregoal emotion reflects appraisals that goal attainment or failure is anticipated but has not yet occurred (e.g., hope and fear). Postgoal emotion reflects appraisals that goal attainment or failure has already occurred (e.g., happiness and devastation). Participants watched a slideshow depicting an interaction between a couple and were asked to empathise with the protagonist's feelings of hope (positive pregoal), happiness (positive postgoal), fear (negative pregoal), or devastation (negative postgoal); in control conditions, no emotion was mentioned. Participants were then asked to reflect on details of the interaction that had occurred (true) or had not occurred (false), and that were relevant or irrelevant to the protagonist's goal. Irrespective of emotional valence, participants in the pregoal conditions were more susceptible to false memories concerning goal-irrelevant details than were participants in the other conditions. These findings support the view that pregoal emotions narrow attention to information relevant to goal pursuit, increasing susceptibility to false memories for irrelevant information. ARTICLE HISTORYReceived 6 September 2015 Accepted 27 January 2016 KEYWORDS False memory; emotion; misinformation; motivation; valence; goal-relevance Memory can be surprisingly inaccurate. People forget, are vulnerable to memory distortion, and can even be led to recall events that never happened (e.g., Schacter, 2001). A well-known method for examining the malleability of memory is the misinformation paradigm (e.g., Loftus, 2005). After an event occurs, people who are exposed to misleading suggestions about what occurred often incorporate these suggestions into their accounts of the original event (e.g., Frenda, Nichols, & Loftus, 2011;Loftus, 1979;Okado & Stark, 2005). The resulting "false" memories have been explained by source misattribution (e.g., Ayers & Reder, 1998;Johnson, Hashtroudi, & Lindsay, 1993): over time, people forget the source of the misinformation and mistakenly attribute it to the event. Studies concerning false memories have great scope and significance. They not only provide basic insights into the process of remembering, but also have major implications for both forensic and clinical practice (e.g., Kaplan, Van Damme, Levine, & Loftus, 2016;McNally, 2003;Schacter & Loftus, 2013).False memories elicited by the misinformation paradigm illustrate the power of suggestion and people's tendency to integrate bits of information encountered at various times into a cohesive memory. Other research has demonstrated the power of imagination to alter memory (see Loftus & Bernstein, 2005, for a review). Rich false memories of having been lost in a shopping mall (Loftus & Pickrell, 1995)...

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The power of emotion versus the power of suggestion: Memory for emotional events in the misinformation paradigm.

Cited by 47 publications

References 79 publications

Emotion and False Memory

Emotion and False Memory

Misremembering Events: Emotional Valence, Psychopathic Traits, and the Misinformation Effect

Emotion and false memory: How goal-irrelevance can be relevant for what people remember

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