Question

Long term memories are often inaccurate,even when people are convinced they are correctly remembering past events. Support this statement with reference to the misinformation effect and rich false memories.Cite at least example of empirical research by Loftus and her colleagues. What implications does the malleability of memory have for the controversy surrounding the recovery of repressed memories of abuse?

Answer 1

Loftus is best known for her ground-breaking work on the misinformation effect and eyewitness memory, and the creation and nature of false memories, including recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse.

she focused on how memory works in real-world settings beginning the empirical study of eyewitness testimony.

she first started with investiagting whether an eyewitness memory can be altered by providing information after an event.the study showed tat memories can be altered by wording certain questions in a particularway. Loftus’ next step was to investigate whether asking leading questions, or providing misleading information in other forms, might also affect people’s memory for the original event. to answer this she devolped the concept of misinformation effect.

according to this effect eyewitness memory can be altered after being exposed to incorrect information about an event - through leading questions or other forms of post-event information; and that memory is highly malleable and open to suggestion.

examples of research done by loftus regarding misinformation effect :

In one classic experiment , different groups of participants viewed a video of a car accident and then afterwards were questioned about what they had seen in the video.

When asked the question, 'How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?' the answer typically involved a higher rate of speed than when the question was phrased, 'How fast were the cars going when they bumped into each other?' The answers to such questions, however, would vary depending on the way the questions were worded.

Additionally, when the participants were asked a week later to report whether or not there was glass at the scene of the accident, those who had heard the word 'smashed' in their initial interview were twice as likely to report broken glass, when in the video there was not any.

implications of misinformation effect : rich false memories.

Loftus’ investigated whether it was possible to implant false memories for entire events that had never taken place. she used a technique called lost in the mall technique to expalin false memories. The method involves attempting to implant a false memory of being lost in a shopping mall as a child and testing whether discussing a false event could produce a "memory" of an event that never happened before.

Factors that can influence false memory include misinformation and misattribution of the original source of the information. Existing knowledge and other memories can also interfere with the formation of a new memory, causing the recollection of an event to be entirely false.

Examples of such memories include fabricated stories about participants getting lost in the supermarket or shopping mall as children. Researchers often rely on suggestive interviews and the power of suggestion from family members, known as “familial informant false narrative procedure.”

conclusion : The inaccuracy of long-term memory is enhanced by the misinformation effect which occurs when misleading information is incorporated into one's memory after an event. false memories also makes recall from long term memory inaccurate.

implications of mallebility of memories on memories of abuse :

It has also been suggested that in cases such as those involving sexual abuse, in which historic events must be recalled, the techniques of asking leading questions is used to help a person to recall events may in some circumstances generate false memories.