Loftus and Pickrell

• Loftus And Pickerell

  Aimed to see if memories could be created through suggestion
• Study procedure

  1. 24 participants, 3 male, called in with relatives

  2. 4 stories obtained from relatives, 3 true, 1 false although it was adapted intending to trick the participant

  3. Participants read and rewrite stories

  4. Interviewed 1 week later about what could be recalled

  5. Debriefed
• 72 true episodes were to be remembered, 68% were remembered
• 25% recalled the false memory to be true
• 19 people chose the false memory as false
• The mere act of imagining an event has a potential to lead the brain into thinking it was real
• Strength of the study

  • Real-world applications in eyewitness testimonies during crimes, an investigator may unconsciously ask questions to implant false memories
• Weakness of the study

  • Ethical issues, participants may be left implanted with a false memory, although they were debriefed the possibility still occurs, raising ethical issues
• It is questionable whether it is worth manipulating people