Evaluated the hypothesis that misleading postevent information impairs memory for the original event using 174 undergraduates in Exp I and 228 Ss in Exp II. Ss were assigned either to a recall test condition or an original recognition test condition. Ss viewed a sequence of slides depicting an event, read a postevent narrative that presented neutral or misleading information about critical details, and were tested on their ability to recall the critical details. No difference in recall performance between misled and control conditions was found. These results, in conjunction with the finding of M. McCloskey and M. Zaragoza (see record 1986-03053-001) that misleading information did not affect Ss’ ability to recognize original information, argue strongly against the memory impairment hypothesis.
Zaragoza, M. S., McCloskey, M., & Jamis, M. (1987). Misleading postevent information and recall of the original event: Further evidence against the memory impairment hypothesis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 13(1), 36-44.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.13.1.36