Misinformation Effect

Misinformation Effect

•  The tendency for misleading information presented after an event to distort later memory reports about that event

Experiment 1: Car Accident Videos (1974) (question)

Can the wording of a question influence people's estimates of an event they witnessed?

Experiment 1: Car Accident Videos (1974) (method)

• Participants watched films of traffic accidents. They answered questions about the accidents. The critical question used different verbs

  • "About how fast were the cars going when they ___ each other?" → smashed, collided, bumped, hit

Experiment 1: Car Accident Videos (1974) (results)

 Stronger verbs led to higher estimated speeds, Participants hearing "smashed" gave higher average estimates than participants hearing "contacted”

Experiment 1: Car Accident Videos (1974) (conclusion)

Leading questions can influence how people report remembered events

Experiment 2: Broken Glass (method)

Participants watched a film of a car accident, One group was asked about cars that "smashed" into each other, Another group heard "hit,” A control group was not asked the critical speed question, One week later, participants were asked whether they had seen broken glass

(There was no broken glass in the film)

Experiment 2: Broken Glass (results)

Participants in the "smashed" group were more likely to report seeing broken glass, The wording of the earlier question influenced later reports about the accident

Leading questions can alter

what people report remembering

Eyewitness testimony can be influenced

by the way questions are phrased