Accuracy Of Memory Reports Research Articles

Children’s strategic regulation during a confidence lineup paradigm

ABSTRACT The accuracy of memory reports is dependent, at least in part, on a person’s ability to screen out incorrect responses by engaging in strategic regulation of memory reports (Koriat & Goldsmith, 1996; 2001). One way in which strategic regulation can be examined is through the use of an explicit ‘I don’t know’ (IDK) response option during memory report tasks. The present research explored the extent to which a confidence identification paradigm (see Sauer et al., 2008) encouraged strategic regulation in child eyewitnesses when reporting on their recognition memory. We recruited 545 children (aged 6-11) who were assigned to (1) a confidence paradigm that either contained or did not contain an explicit ‘I don’t know’ (IDK) response option or (2) a traditional lineup paradigm that either contained or did not contain an IDK response option. Regardless of whether an IDK response option was available, the confidence paradigm performed with similar accuracy. However, the IDK option was used more frequently in the traditional lineup paradigm than in the confidence paradigm. Taken together, these findings suggest that the confidence identification paradigm sufficiently encourages strategic regulation in children when reporting on recognition memory without the need for an explicit no-response option.

Translating (lack of) memories into reports: Conversion processes in responding to unanswerable questions.

When queried about events in the past, a person may face questions that concern details that have been witnessed-answerable questions-and details that have not been witnessed-unanswerable questions. With regard to answerable questions, the person's willingness to answer these questions increases as a function of not only information available about the queried detail itself, but also as a function of contextual information. The present research assesses whether the willingness to report specific-and thus incorrect-answers when facing unanswerable questions also increases with the amount of available contextual information. In 3 experiments, we show that when recognition questions for critical details one had not encoded are preceded by reinstated contexts, participants are less willing to respond "don't know" to these questions, thus making more commission errors. These results show how greater access to contextual information, commonly associated with better memory for answerable questions, can also lead to more incorrect responses in the case of unanswerable questions. This documents how conversion processes-metacognitive processes of monitoring retrieval from memory and controlling the quality of output-play an important role in shaping the accuracy of memory reports. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The effects of question format and co-witness peer discussion on the confidence accuracy of children's testimonies

Different types of social influence can affect eyewitness testimony. This study examined the effects of question format (free recall and prompts) and co-witness peer discussion on the confidence accuracy of memory reports of children aged 9–11 years. Pairs of children watched one of two perspectives of a film. Half of the pairs discussed the film; the rest discussed non-relevant topics. Children responding to prompts had a lower proportion of correct memory reports, were less confident, and showed poorer confidence accuracy compared with free recall. During free recall, the children showed near perfect confidence accuracy. No peer discussion effects were found; however, 33% of the children in the film discussion condition reported commission errors.

Undoing Suggestive Influence: The Reversibility of the Misinformation Effect

Extensive research has demonstrated that eyewitness testimony can easily be influenced. Presenting inconsistent information about a previously perceived incident typically decreases accuracy of memory reports concerning that particular event (misinformation effect). While some studies have explored potential strategies to prevent the misinformation effect in the first place, the reversibility of the effect has remained unexplored. The two reported experiments are the first to demonstrate that suggestive influence can be undone completely. A previously elicited misinformation effect was eliminated after thoroughly informing participants about the scope of the study and the presentation of inconsistent details (Study 1) as well as in combination with a sensitive memory test (Study 2). Access to the original information was not impaired by the presentation of misleading details. The findings suggest that the effect is largely based on participants’ uncertainty about the nature of the perceived inconsistencies and about what should be reported.

Effects of Misleading Questions and Hypnotic Memory Suggestion on Memory Reports: A Signal-Detection Analysis

In 2002, the first author and collegues reported data indicating that both hypnosis and misleading questions decreased the accuracy of memory reports and decreased “don’t know” response rates, that the effects of misleading questions were significantly greater than those of hypnosis, and that the two effects were additive. Using a sample of 194 undergraduate students, the present study replicated the findings that misleading questions reduce accuracy and “don’t know” responding but failed to replicate the negative effect of hypnosis on memory reports. Signal detection analysis indicated that misleading questioning produced decreased sensitivity accompanied by higher response bias, though affecting sensitivity more than producing a criterion shift. 3The authors would like to thank Sabrena Davis, Jarita Dunbar, Aliya Gravesade, and Jen Pastiglione for their assistance in data collection and analysis. We thank Dr. Len Katz for his advice on statistical analyses.

Mental reinstatement of the misinformation context and the misinformation effect in children and adults

AbstractThe present study investigated the effects of mental reinstatement of the context in which misleading information about an event was presented on later recognition memory for the event. Five‐year‐olds, 7‐year‐olds and adults were shown a short video depicting a children's adventure and were asked a set of misleading questions to introduce misinformation one week later. Before the recognition memory test was administered another week later, half of the participants were given instructions to mentally reinstate the context of the misleading interview. Memory was assessed with a set of forced‐choice recognition questions once in the misleading interview context and for the children a second time at home one week later. When participants were instructed to mentally reinstate the context of the misleading interview prior to the recognition test, false memory reports occurred more often for adults than for children and had a stronger impact on peripheral information than on central information for both 7‐year‐olds and adults. When 5‐ and 7‐year‐olds were tested at home, false memory reports decreased. Thus, reinstating the context of an interview introducing misinformation can reduce the accuracy of memory reports; the context dependence of both accurate and inaccurate memory reports in children and adults is discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hypnotic memory and confident reporting

AbstractThe effect of hypnosis on the relationship between confidence and accuracy of memory reports is examined. Specifically, the article reviews experimental research that has measured subjects' confidence in their hypnotically influenced memory reports. The findings of this research are discussed in terms of the factors that increase confidence without affecting accuracy, and the factors that decrease accuracy without affecting confidence. The article argues that both the experiential and social factors associated with hypnosis potentially reduce the correspondence between confidence and accuracy of memory. Finally, the article specifies the major implications for further theoretical and empirical work on hypnotic memory and confident reporting.

Memory distortion in hypnosis.

Abstract This paper presents data from a programmatic series of studies that varied the range of conditions affecting potential increase of recall, memory distortions, and distortions of confidence during and following hypnosis. All the studies used a paradigm that exposed Ss to misleading information some time before memory was tested and applied procedures in the hypnotic setting to analyze memory performance in both recognition and free recall. Results from the program failed to demonstrate any increment in accurate memory due to hypnosis, and the accuracy of memory reports in hypnosis was at times significantly reduced. Further, hypnotic recall was distinctively distorted when false information was introduced after, rather than before hypnosis. Results were discussed in relation to the role hypnotic as opposed to contextual variables may play in explaining Ss' memory test performances, and some legal implications are drawn from the data.