Reinforced self‐affirmation as a method for reducing eyewitness memory conformity: An experimental examination using a modified <scp>MORI</scp> technique

Kękuś, Magdalena; Chylińska, Klaudia; Szpitalak, Malwina; Polczyk, Romuald; Itô, Hiroshi; Mori, Kazuo; Barzykowski, Krystian

doi:10.1002/acp.4065

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Thus, in the individual recognition test, Participant B could not answer, for example, “green cap”. As the coding of misinformed items is not straightforward because it requires the consideration of each participant's answer during the discussion, Cadavid and Luna (2021) created guidelines on how to classify participants' answers as misinformed or non‐misinformed (the authors calls these “misdirected” and “non‐misdirected”; Cadavid & Luna, 2021, table 1; see also Kękuś et al, 2023, fig. 1).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is your memory better than mine? Investigating the mechanisms and determinants of the memory conformity effect using a modified MORI technique

Kękuś,

Polczyk,

Ito

et al. 2024

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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The paper presents the memory conformity effect phenomenon, which involves the inclusion in memory accounts concerning a particular event (original information) of incorrect information (misinformation) that a witness has obtained as a result of another witness's account of the same event. The research had two goals: (1) to verify the existence of individuals who yield to misinformation yet are aware of discrepancy between the original information and the misinformation; (2) to determine why these individuals choose misinformation despite the correctness of their own memories. In addition, we examined the relationship between susceptibility to social influence, compliance, suggestibility and memory conformity in interaction with awareness of discrepancy. In order to examine the memory conformity effect, we used the MORI technique, which ensures high ecological validity. In this technique, the two members of each pair of participants sit next to each other and each are not aware that the other is watching a different version of the same event. Then, the participants answer related questions and discuss the contradictory details. Subsequently, the subjects complete an individual memory test. Importantly, after the main part of the study (i.e., the MORI procedure), participants were explicitly informed about the different versions of the event, and they were asked to complete awareness of discrepancy questionnaires. It was shown that awareness of the discrepancy between the original information and the misinformation reduced succumbing to misinformation. However, it was demonstrated that, despite being aware of discrepancies, 21.4% participants still succumbed to the misinformation. It was also shown that the main reason for participants being misinformed despite being aware of the discrepancy was distrust of their own memory.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is your memory better than mine? Investigating the mechanisms and determinants of the memory conformity effect using a modified MORI technique

Kękuś,

Polczyk,

Ito

et al. 2024

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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“…This means that the second participant has been misinformed [or misdirected, as Cadavid and Luna (2021) put it]. Now, such discussed (misinforming, misdirecting) details may be divided into disputed and non-disputed ones (see Cadavid and Luna, 2021 , Table 1; Kękuś et al, 2023 , Figure 1). A given detail is classified as disputed if the participants in a pair disagree with each other during the discussion about it and give different answers (but consistent with their own original information).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Online misinformation can distort witnesses’ memories. Analysis of co-witness discussions using an online version of the MORI-v technique

Kękuś,

Szpitalak,

Polczyk

et al. 2024

Front. Psychol.

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IntroductionThe memory conformity effect occurs when people witness a given incident and then talk to each other about it, and the statement of one person affects the memory account of another person with respect to that incident. The main objectives of this experiment were (1) to examine the effectiveness of a modified version of the MORI-v technique in inducing the memory conformity effect and (2) to investigate how the manner in which participants discuss the observed event influences the magnitude of this effect. In general, the modified online MORI-v technique consists of the following main elements: (1) original material, that is, two versions of a short film which are identical except for certain critical details; for example, in one version, a thief puts on a red cap, but in the other version it is black; (2) the collaborative recognition test, that is, a discussion about the original material which leads to mutual misinformation; and (3) an individual recognition test that checks the effect of the discussion on the memory account of the original material.MethodsA total of 72 participants (36 pairs) aged 18–54 took part in the research. Participants were tested using the online MORI-v technique: They were familiarized with the original material on their computers at home, and then they talked about it via a video communication app and completed an individual recognition test on their computers. Importantly, the discussions were recorded and analyzed in detail after the experimental session.Results and discussionUsing the online MORI-v technique, the effect of memory conformity was demonstrated, that is, in the individual recognition test, the proportion of correct answers to questions about discussed details (related to misinformation) was lower than the proportion of correct answers to questions about non-discussed details. It was also demonstrated that if one participant introduced misinformation during the discussion about a particular item and the other did not question it, the latter’s answer to that item during the individual recognition test was most often incorrect. However, if one participant introduced misinformation during the discussion about an item and the other questioned it, the latter’s answer about that item during the individual recognition test was most often correct.

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Memory Conformity Effect

Kękuś,

Polczyk,

Barzykowski

2024

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Memory Studies

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Reinforced self‐affirmation as a method for reducing eyewitness memory conformity: An experimental examination using a modified MORI technique

Cited by 4 publications

References 59 publications

Is your memory better than mine? Investigating the mechanisms and determinants of the memory conformity effect using a modified MORI technique

Is your memory better than mine? Investigating the mechanisms and determinants of the memory conformity effect using a modified MORI technique

Online misinformation can distort witnesses’ memories. Analysis of co-witness discussions using an online version of the MORI-v technique

Memory Conformity Effect

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