False Memory

Question 1

What is a false memory

Answer 1

A memory for something that did not happen but a person thinks it is a true memory.

Question 2

What was the aim of Loftus and Pickrell study of false memory

Answer 2

Loftus and Pickrell aimed to see if false memories could be created in participants through suggestion.

Question 3

What was the method of Loftus and Pickrell study of false memory

Answer 3

Participants were given four stories about childhood events of which three were true and one false (getting lost in a shopping mall was the false one).
The story was created with the help of a relative so that it sounded realistic.
Participants read each story and wrote what they remembered.

Question 4

Results of Loftus and Pickrell study of false memory

Answer 4

68% of the true episodes were remembered.
Six out of 24 (25%) of participants recalled the false story fully or partially. The rest had no memory of it.

Question 5

Conclusion of Loftus and Pickrell study of false memory

Answer 5

This shows that imagining an event can implant a false memory in a person, reducing the accuracy of memory.

Question 6

Evaluate of Loftus and Pickrell study of false memory

Answer 6

An issue is that the false memory event is not of the same traumatic kind that could be found in therapy.
Harmless events might be implanted easily but traumatic events may not.
Therefore, conclusions that can be drawn about false memories are limited.

The research raises ethical concerns.
Even though participants were debriefed, they may be left with implanted false memories which lingered after the study was finished.
Therefore the study may have caused psychological harm, an ethical issue.