An experimental investigation of the misinformation effect in crime-related amnesia claims

Research suggests that both internal (i.e., lying) and external (i.e., misinformation) factors can affect memory for a crime. We aimed to explore the effects of post-event misinformation on crime-related amnesia claims. We showed participants a mock crime and asked them to either simulate amnesia (simulators) or confess to it (confessors). Next, some participants were provided with misinformation. Finally, all participants were requested to genuinely recollect the crime. Overall, simulators reported less correct information than confessors. Moreover, these two groups were equally vulnerable to misinformation. In addition, exploratory analyses on strategies adopted by simulators revealed that those who previously, mostly omitted information while simulating amnesia exhibited the lowest amount of correct details. Simulators who instead used a mixed strategy disclosed more fabricated memory errors. Findings suggest that legal professionals and jurors should take into account that even offenders, irrespective of confessing or simulating memory loss for a crime, can be susceptible to post-event misinformation.     

Can implicit measures detect source information in crime-related amnesia?

Participants who are asked to simulate amnesia for a mock crime have a weaker memory for this event when they have to give up their role as a feigner, than those who are not asked to feign memory loss. According to the source monitoring framework (SMF), this memory-undermining effect of simulating amnesia for a crime would be due to misattribution of the right source of information. However, we know that the content of self-generated information (e.g., feigned version of the crime) might be preserved and recognised over time as a result of elaborative cognitive processing. In the present study, we aimed to contrast these two explanations. We showed participants a mock crime video and we instructed them to either feign amnesia (simulators) or confess the mock crime (confessors). Next, a free recall memory test was administered. After one week, participants were asked to perform a personalised source monitoring task using the autobiographical Implicit Association Test (aIAT). As predicted, we found that simulators were able to discriminate the content of their self-generated feigned story of the crime from the original version. Moreover, simulators were quicker than confessors at the aIAT task. Practical and theoretical implications of our results are discussed.     

用PDP模型模拟Stroop任务的实验研究

本实验用基于ＰＤＰ原理构造的Ｓｔｒｏｏｐ任务模型模拟了Ｓｔｒｏｏｐ颜色－词的干扰现象。模型采用ＢＰ学习算法。经过训练,模型学会字词阅读和颜色命名。由于对模型采用６种不同的学习次数（这里为：５００,１０００,２０００,３０００,５０００,１００００）以及４种不同比例（这里为：４：１,６：１,８：１,１０：１）字词模式和颜色模式的训练,其结果字词通道的信息加工比颜色通道的加工更快更强,并产生不同的干扰模式,其字词加工的次数越多,干扰越大,次数越少,干扰也越小。这很可能说明语言的熟练程度对干扰模式有着更大的影响。模型还体现了加工过程的连续性质。但这个模型难以区分不同的加工任务。