study 1

• Sacchi et al (2007) investigated the effects of doctored photographs on memory for past public events.
• In the study, participants were asked to recall the Beijing event of 1989 and the Rome event (protest) of 2003.
• Three sets of questions were used in the study: manipulation check questions, critical questions, and attitude questions.
• In the Beijing event study, participants in both conditions were equally likely to recognize the photograph, regardless of whether the version had been modified or not.
• Ratings of familiarity with the Beijing event did not differ between the two conditions.
• When asked critical questions, the participants who viewed the altered material produced higher estimates of the number of people that took part in the Beijing event and how many people were near the tanks.
• Attitude questions showed mean ratings on the peaceful–violent and positive–negative scales did not differ between the two conditions.
• In the Rome event study, participants who viewed the original version were more likely to recognize the photo than those who saw the doctored version.
• Ratings of familiarity with the Rome event also differed with ratings of high familiarity selected by 73.6% of the participants in the original condition, but by 51.6% in the doctored condition.
• The critical questions focused on violence.
• Participants were asked if any physical confrontation occurred between the demonstrators and the law enforcement, if any property was damaged and how many people were injured.
• Those exposed to the altered photograph were more likely to respond 'Yes' to all three questions.
• Participants who viewed the doctored photo rated the event significantly more violent and they rated the Rome event significantly more negative, than those who saw the original.
• Participants did not receive any kind of compensation for involvement.
• sample study 1 : 187 pps , undergraduates most who did psychology at universities in Italy
• study 1 aims : to investigate whether doctored photos of two well known events could change a person's memories of an event ; to investigate whether viewing doctored photos could change a person's attitudes towards an event ; or change behavioral intentions of a person in the future
• beijing 1989 ; rome 2003
• beijing ; student standing in front of tanks , doctored to add conspicuous crowds on both sides of the line of tanks
• rome ; photo depicting peaceful demonstrators in front of coliseum was used - doctored -> police officers and aggressive looking demonstrators were added to the crowds
• study 1 : combinations -> 2 original , 2 doctored , 1 doctored Rome original Beijing , 1 doctored Beijing 1 original Rome