The Library

Anchoring effects in the development of false childhood memories

Tools

Wade, Kimberley A. , Garry, Maryanne, Nash, Robert Alastair and Harper, David N.. (2009) Anchoring effects in the development of false childhood memories. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, Vol.17 (No.1). pp. 66-72. ISSN 1069-9384

Preview

PDF
WRAP_Wade_0380775-ps-290909-wade-revised-ms.pdf - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Download (711Kb)

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/PBR.17.1.66

Abstract

When people receive descriptions or doctored photos of events that never happened, they often come to remember those events. But if people receive both a description and a doctored photo, does the order in which they receive the information matter? We asked people to consider a description and a doctored photograph of a childhood hot air balloon ride, and we varied which medium they saw first. People who saw a description first reported more false images and memories than people who saw a photo first, a result that fits with an anchoring account of false childhood memories.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions:	Faculty of Science > Psychology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Child psychology, False memory syndrome, Autobiographical memory, Imagery (Psychology), Metacognition
Journal or Publication Title:	Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
Publisher:	Psychonomic Society, Inc.
ISSN:	1069-9384
Date:	5 October 2009
Volume:	Vol.17
Number:	No.1
Page Range:	pp. 66-72
Identification Number:	10.3758/PBR.17.1.66
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
References:	Carlson, K.A., & Russo, J.E. (2001). Biased interpretation of evidence by mock jurors. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 7, 91-103. Desjardins, T., & Scoboria, A. (2007). ‘You and your best friend Suzy put Slime in Ms. Smollett’s desk’: Producing false memories with self-relevant details. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14, 1090-1095. Garry, M. & Gerrie, M.P. (2005). When photographs create false memories. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 321-325. Garry, M., & Wade, K.A. (2005). Actually, a picture is worth less than 45 words: Narratives produce more false memories than photographs do. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12, 359-366. Hart, A.J. (1995). Naturally occurring expectation effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 109-115. Hyman, I.E., Jr., Husband, T.H., & Billings, F.J. (1995). False memories of childhood experiences. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 9, 181-197. Johnson, M.K., Hashtroudi, S. & Lindsay, D.S. (1993). Source monitoring. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 3-28. Lindsay, D.S. (2008). Source Monitoring. In H.L. Roediger, III (Ed.), Cognitive psychology of memory. Vol. 2 of Learning and memory: A comprehensive reference, 4 vols. (J. Byrne, Editor) (pp. 325-348). Oxford: Elsevier. Lindsay, D.S., Hagen, L., Read, J.D., Wade, K.A. & Garry, M. (2004). Picture this: True photographs and false memories. Psychological Science, 15, 149-154. Loftus, E.F. (2004). Memories of things unseen. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, 145-147. Loftus, E.F., & Pickrell, J.E. (1995). The formation of false memories. Psychiatric Annals, 25, 720-725. Lyle, K.B., & Johnson, M.K. (2006). Importing perceived features into false memories. Memory, 14, 197-213. Mazzoni, G., & Kirsch, I. (2002). Autobiographical memories and beliefs: A preliminary metacognitive model. In T. J. Perfect, & B. L. Schwartz (Eds.), Applied metacognition (pp. 121-146). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. McKinnon, M. (2008). Repair your life: A program for recovery from incest and childhood sexual abuse. Ann Arbor, MI: Loving Healing Press. Nickerson, R.S. (1998). Confirmation bias: A Ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises. Review of General Psychology, 2, 175-220. Ost, J., Foster, S., Costall, A. & Bull, R. (2005). False reports of childhood events in appropriate interviews. Memory, 13, 700-710. Peterson, C.R., & DuCharme, W.M. (1967). A primacy effect in subjective probability revision. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73, 61-65 Pezdek, K., Finger, K., & Hodge, D. (1997). Planting false childhood memories: The role of event plausibility. Psychological Science, 8, 437-441. Porter, S., Yuille, J.C., & Lehman, D.R. (1999). The nature of real, implanted and fabricated memories for emotional childhood events: Implications for the false memory debate. Law & Human Behavior, 23, 517-538. Ross, M., Buehler, B., & Karr J.W. (1998). Assessing the accuracy of conflicting autobiographical memories. Memory & Cognition, 26, 1233-1244. Sanderson, C. (2006). Counselling adult survivors of child sexual abuse. (3rd Ed.) London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Sharman, S.J., & Scoboria, A. (2009). Imagination equally influences false memories for high and low plausibility events. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, 813-827. Strange, D. Hayne, H, & Garry, M. (2007). A photo, a suggestion, a false memory. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22, 587-603. Wade, K.A., & Garry, M. (2005). Strategies for verifying false autobiographical memories. American Journal of Psychology, 118, 587-602. Wade, K.A., Garry, M., Read, J.D., & Lindsay, D.S. (2002). A picture is worth a thousand lies: Using false photographs to create false childhood memories. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 9, 597-603. Wade, K.A., Sharman, S.J., Garry, M., Memon, A., Mazzoni, G., Merckelbach, H., & Loftus, E.F. (2007). False claims about false memory research. Consciousness and Cognition, 16, 18-28. Whitfield, C. L. (1995). Memory and abuse: Remembering and healing the effects of trauma. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc.
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/2127