The effects of misleading information on explicit and implicit memory

Abstract

The current study was designed to explore the differential effects of misleading post event information on implicit and explicit memory previously described in a study by Dodson and Reisberg (1991). Thirty subjects viewed a short video of a crime scene and then read a narrative containing misinformation about details seen in the video. Memory was then assessed both directly (with a forced choice recognition test) and indirectly (using a lexical decision task). The misinformation impaired performance on the direct task, but did not influence reaction times to words in the misled condition relative to words in the baseline and original condition in the indirect test. The results support the hypothesis that memory impairment due to misinformation is not due to memory decay or overwriting. Results are discussed in light of the interference hypothesis for the misinformation effect. Suggestions are made for future research.