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Creating a false alibi leads to errors of commission and omission
Author(s) -
Riesthuis Paul,
Otgaar Henry,
De Cort Anne,
Bogaard Glynis,
Mangiulli Ivan
Publication year - 2022
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.3982
Subject(s) - alibi , deception , psychology , recall , false memory , suspect , social psychology , commission , mnemonic , cognitive psychology , criminology , law , political science
A suspect of a crime can avoid legal repercussions by creating a false alibi. We examined whether creating such a false alibi can have adverse effects on memory. To do so, participants watched a mock crime video and were either instructed to create a false alibi or to provide an honest account for what they actually saw in the video. After a 2‐day and 1‐month delay, all participants were instructed to come forward with the truth using a free recall task. Participants who initially created a false alibi had more commission errors after a 2‐day and 1‐month delay (vs. truth telling participants). Moreover, participants who created a false alibi reported fewer correct details after a 2‐day and 1‐month delay (vs. truth telling participants). Our study suggests that like other types of deception, creating a false alibi can elicit memory undermining effects in the form of commission and omission errors.