Planting False Memories: Are Transgressions As Believable As

Victimizations?

Presented at the annual

UCI Undergraduate Research SymposiumBy

Sara Holderfield

May 13, 2006

Have You Ever…• Forgotten something and then

remembered it?

This is normal forgetting and remembering. Usually, there are no dire consequences for mixing up the

facts of a memory.

• Believed an event happened one way only to find out you were wrong?

Why Research False Memories?In the Early ’80’s, serious and bizarre sex abuse

allegations started coming out due to “recovered memories”, and innocent people were being slandered at best, convicted at

worst.

Recanters

"...I was able to figure out the so called 'recovered memories' were nothing more than visualizations from suggestions, guided imagery, therapist interpreted dreams, and hypnosis. You had nothing to do with my figuring out what was happening to me." From a letter by Deborah David to Dr. Colin Ross, a RMT and Multiple Personality Disorder therapist.

www.religioustolerance.org

Is it possible to plant false memories in a lab setting?

50% false memory using false photograph

Wade, Garry, Read, Lindsay (2002)

25% and 31% false memories using false profile

Bernstein, Laney, Morris, Loftus (2005)

Is it possible to plant false memories in a lab setting?

25% false memory using family involvement

Loftus and Pickrell (1995)

26% complete memory for false itemPorter, Yuille, Lehman (1999)

What about transgressions?

We know we can plant false benign and false traumatic memories, but can we

plant false memories for a transgression, like cheating?

Why study transgressions?175 wrongful convictions overturned as of

May 4, 2006.

Of the first 130 exonerations, 35 were false confessions.

(www.innocenceproject.com)

Studying false memories for a transgression is a move in the right direction for studying

false internalized-confessions.(Kassin, 1997)

Subjects

N=170

UCI students=157, IVC=13

Male=51, Female=119

Range in age from 18-43

“Social Perceptions” Study

Additional surveys1 week

Personalizedprofile

Confidence(SEI-1)

AndPersonality

survey

Self-Esteem Scale

I feel I do not have much to be proud of.

1 2 3 4

I am able to do things as well as most other people.

1 2 3 4

I take a positive attitude toward myself.

1 2 3 4

On the whole I am satisfied with myself.

1 2 3 4

Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

School Experiences Events Inventory

Below is a list of events that may or may not have happened to you. Please read each event and rate how certain you are that the event (or a very similar event) did or did not happen to you.

Definitely Definitely did not happen did happen

6. I won a spelling bee in elementary school 1 2 3 4 5 6 77. I went to the school nurse and had my temperature checked

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8. I got an ‘A’ in math class in 9th grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 79. I was forced to repeat a grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

10. I cheated on a test in 7th and/or 8th grade

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

11. I took drivers’ education during high school 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

“Social Perceptions” Study

Additional Surveys(SEI 2)

1 weekPersonalized

profile

Confidence(LEI 1)

andpersonality

surveys

Subject Name: Molly Memory

• Your self-esteem is high compared to others in your peer group. This disposition has led you to have a healthy respect for your own abilities.

• You have had some successes and some failures so far, but your confidence in your own

abilities to perform well is increasing over time. Studies suggest that increasing confidence levels

lead to increasing success rates.

Subject Name: Frank Fallible

• Your self-esteem is low compared to your peer group. This disposition has led you to doubt your abilities even in the face of success.

• Your relative lack of confidence contributed to your decision to cheat on a test during adolescence. According to a recent study, individuals who cheat during this critical time period tend to develop higher levels of test anxiety than those who refrain from cheating. Additional research suggests that those who admit to having cheated, even years after the fact, can reduce their test anxiety dramatically.

Memory or Belief?

1. I made a goal during a soccer game in a PE class

2. I cheated on a test in 7th and/or 8th grade

3. I felt an earthquake during high school

P

B

M

Defining False Memories

We need to distinguish true memories from false in some way. The criteria are:

• Low confidence Day 1, Higher confidence Day 2

• “Memory” or “Belief”

Confidence –subjects starting below 5 (on 7-pt scale)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Day 1 Day 2

experimental

Experimental: t(43) = 5.86, p <.001

CONFIDENCE

Confidence –subjects starting below 5 (on 7-pt scale)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Day 1 Day 2

experimentalcontrol

Experimental: t(43) = 5.86, p <.001Control: t(44) = 5.18, p <.001

CONFIDENCE

So what now?

• Did we enter data wrongly?

• Were subjects given the wrong profiles?

• Are UCI students on to us and we have used the same profile too long?

Future Directions

• Compare UCI and IVC students.

• Analyze differences between true and false memories.

• Look at consequences for false beliefs.

• Use a new method of manipulation and a less common false memory target.

Thank you!Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D.

Cara Laney, Ph.D. Candidate

Valerie Jenness, Ph.D.

Erin Morris, Ph.D. Candidate

S.U.R.P.

U.R.O.P.

Contact Information:

Sara Holderfield

sara.holderfield@gmail.com

949.701.8609

Thank you!