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Memory distrust and acceptance of misinformation
Author(s) -
van Bergen Saskia,
Horselenberg Robert,
Merckelbach Harald,
Jelicic Marko,
Beckers Roos
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.1595
Subject(s) - distrust , misinformation , psychology , recall , social psychology , memory problems , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , computer security , psychotherapist , computer science , medicine , dementia , disease , pathology
Relying on a community sample ( N = 80), the present study examined whether memory distrust is related to an increased tendency to accept misinformation and whether it interacts with passage of time. Participants were shown video footage of an armed robbery. Approximately 30 minutes later, they were asked to describe as accurately as possible what they had seen. Either 1 day or 2 weeks later they were presented with their own statements, to which five misinformation items had been added. The results showed that people suffering from memory distrust accepted more misinformation than those with optimistic beliefs about their memory. In addition, both age and free recall seemed to modulate this relationship. However, memory evaluation did not interact with time interval. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.