Transcript Presentation - Hanover College

The Effect of Stress on the
Development of
False Memory and Forgetting
Sarah Vogt, Ashley Recker, and
Russalyn Spicer
Hanover College
Introduction:
What is False Memory?
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“…Memories of experiences that never
occurred” (Conway, 1997, p. 184).
In contrast with true memories, they are
often associated with weak or vague images
Why we develop them:
 Initial interpretation inaccurate
 Power of suggestion: fill in gaps over time
Implications for Eyewitness Testimony
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Innocence Project (Roots, 2001)
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15 out of 70 cases involved false witness
testimony
Exonerated 146 convicts, 13 on death row
Why is it important?
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Be skeptical of witness testimony
Stress and False Memories
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Experimentally induced stress
Payne, Nadel, Allen, Thomas, and
Jacobs (2002)
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Stress and no-stress conditions
Related and non-related lure words
More related words “recalled” in stress
condition
Stress and Its Effect on Forgetting
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Conflicting findings
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Some studies found either no effects or
interfering effects of stress on memory
Others suggest that more stress = higher
levels of recall (Goodman, Hirschman, Hepps &
Rudy, 1991)
Stress and Its Effect on Forgetting
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Lindberg, Jones, McComas, Collard &
Stuart, 2001
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Young Children
Witnessed or Experienced Inoculations
Stress measured by subjective pain of
inoculation
Findings: Those who experienced the stress had
more stressor-related memories and greater
resistance to forgetting over time. Those who
only witnessed the stressor had greater
memories of non-stressor related details.
Hypotheses
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An increase in stress level is expected
to result in an increase in the number of
false memories
An increase in stress level is expected
to result in an increase in forgotten
details
Participants
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N = 13
3 Males/ 10 Females
Ages 18-22
All Caucasian
Small, Midwestern liberal arts college
Procedure: Overview
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Informed Consent
Dual Task Experiment
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Difficulty level high
Difficulty level low
Watched video clip (approx 1 minute)
Memory Task (questionnaire)
Debriefing
Dual Task Stimulus
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10 trials each
No practice condition
Stressful
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Increased speed of dot (25)
Smaller box size (25)
Not stressful
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Decreased speed of dot (2)
Large box size (50)
The Video Clip
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1 minute, 4 seconds
Late at night
Woman witnesses crime from window
Assault/ attempted murder
Male perpetrator
Female victim
Perpetrator runs away
The Memory Task
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Post-video questionnaire
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9 sections
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e.g. “What did the perpetrator look like?”
Checklist format
How it was coded:
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# of false memories = # marked incorrect
# forgotten details = # correct left unchecked
Totals for both false memories and forgotten
details recorded
Sample Question
 Check all that you remember seeing
(Check all that apply.):
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Wallet
Purse
Car
Hedges
Robe
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Underwear
Watch
Lamp post
Police officer
Blood
Results
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False Memories
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Forgotten Details
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t (11)= - 0.21, p = 0.84
Stress M = 5.71; No Stress M = 6.00
t (11)= 1.04, p = 0.32
Stress M = 12.00; No Stress M =10.50
Example:
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Participant “saw” a wallet and crime was a
“mugging”
Discussion/Limitations
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What does it all mean
Limitations
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Dual-task as stressor
Questionnaire Format
Participant interest
Future Directions
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Pre-study anxiety scale
Anxiety scale after dual task
Dual task with video
Type of video
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Length
Quality
Vary elapsed time before questionnaire
Multiple questionnaires
Questions?