If you express it in the form of a negation, you can expect an effect similar to misinformation

Abstract

The primary goal of the presented research was to investigate how processing post-event information affects memory of details in an event viewed on video. We used two forms of post-event information: classic misinformation (changing or implanting new information into memory) and a new form that involves a correct explicit or implicit negation of the existence of an object in the video. We followed the three-step procedure used in studies on the misinformation effect, with a final memory test that was either immediate or delayed by a week and consisted in indicating which objects appeared in the video. We replicated the misinformation effect. More importantly, in the delayed test condition, both explicitly and implicitly negated objects were falsely recalled more often than unmentioned objects. These results indicate that it is possible to induce negation-related false memories; they also show that memory is impaired by negated post-event information or misleading post-event information.

Key words:

• explicit negation
• eyewitness memory
• false memory
• implicit negation
• memory distortion
• misinformation effect
• negation memory
• negation-related false memories
• post-event information
• witness testimony

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by a mini-grant dedicated to PhD students in the School of Social Sciences at Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, received by Iwona Dudek.