Interviewing Witnesses: Forced Confabulation and Confirmatory Feedback Increase False Memories

Abstract

In two experiments, adults who witnessed a videotaped event subsequently engaged in face-to-face interviews during which they were forced to confabulate information about the events they had seen. The interviewer selectively reinforced some of the participants' confabulated responses by providing confirmatory feedback (e.g., "Yes, ______ is the correct answer") and provided neutral (uninformative) feedback for the remaining confabulated responses (e.g., "O.K_____". One week later participants developed false memories for the events they had earlier confabulated knowingly. However confirmatory feedback increased false memory for forcibly confabulated events, increased confidence in those false memories, and increased the likelihood that participants wouldfreely report the confabulated events 1 to 2 months later The results illustrate the powerful role of social-motivational factors in promoting the development offalse memories.

Personality Characteristics Associated with Susceptibility to False Memories

“…Recognition of false events was assessed by a yes-no test constructed in a format similar to previous research on forced confabulation (Ackil & Zaragoza, 1998;Zaragoza et al, 2001). Twenty yes-no questions were asked in the following form: "When you watched the video, did you see_____?"…”

“…We examined false memories in this study by using the confabulation paradigm of Zaragoza et al (2001). Susceptibility to false memories was correlated with the personality dimensions assessed by the MBTI.…”

Confabulation: A Beginner’s Guide for legal professionals

“…Unfortunately, these factors are common throughout the interactions that take place during the judicial process. Interviews or interrogations that are argumentative, hostile, insistent, or make suggestions to an individual through the use of leading questions may increase the risk of confabulating memories [37,38]. To increase the comfort level of the interviewee, it is advisable to adjust the tone of the interrogation or interview to decrease the potential for stress and anxiety.…”

Confabulation: Implications for Criminal Justice, Forensic Mental Health, and Legal Professionals

“…Neurodevelopmental disorders and depleted cognitive functioning, which are disproportionately likely in criminal justice settings may include susceptibility to fantasy and confusion along with deficits in executive functioning, short-and long-term memory, autobiographical memory, and reality and source monitoring. Alternatively, demanding situations can also contribute to the likelihood of confabulation [2,[32][33][34]. This could be caused in part by an effort to make sense of a situation or leading questions and repetitive negative feedback.…”

“…Damage to this system, often associated with damage to the ventro-medial prefrontal cortex has been shown to be associated with confabulation [78]. Special consideration should also be extended to the individual's historical habits and propensity for imagination and fantastical thoughts, which can contribute to confabulation and false memories [15,33,79,80].…”