Information presented after someone witnesses an event that is misleading and can potentially change their memory of that event. It is often problematic in criminal cases when witnesses are given MPI.

Misleading Postevent Information (MPI)

Gabbert, F., Memon, A., Allan, K., & Wright, D.B. (2004/2010). Say it to my face: Examining the effects of socially encountered misinformation. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 9(2), 215–227. https://doi.org/10.1348/1355325041719428

Say it to my face: Examining the effects of socially encountered misinformation

Aging and the Misinformation Effect: A Neuropsychological Analysis

One factor that could affect one's susceptibility to the misinformation effect is sleep. However, the research conducted on this relationship has yielded inconclusive results. 

The Misinformation Effect and Sleep

Methods for Studying the Misinformation Effect

Since self-confidence and memory are positively linked, it is thought that a positive self-image should be linked to lower susceptibility to the misinformation effect. This hypothesis assumes that susceptibility to misinformation is at least in part due to a lack of confidence in one's memories. 

Positive feedback to protect against the misinformation effect

The idea that memory reports become contaminated with information coming from sources other than the original

Memory Misinformation Effect

The idea that the misinformation effect can occur without memory distortions or source monitoring errors

Non-Memory Misinformation Effect

An intervention to the misinformation effect consisting of the addition of a warning after the presentation of misleading information. Post-warnings intend to encourage less reliance on information presented after an event.

Misinformation Effect Interventions: Post-warnings

- Memory impairment 
- Biased responding
- Source misattribution
- Memory conversion processes

Misinformation Effect: Mechanisms

False memories germinated from misinformation that an individual whole-heartedly believed in and can provide emotional, sensational, and factual details when recalling. 


Rich False Memories

Misleading information that is presented to someone after witnessing event can change how they recall and explain that event. One common explanation is retroactive interference (new learning interfering with old memory/understanding)

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

University of Chicago

- Source-monitoring error (source misattribution)
- Pragmatic inferences
- Misinformation effect

Memory Errors and Impairment (seen in general population)

Information that is (verifiably) misleading, false, or incomplete. Misinformation can be created with or without the intent to misinform the public. 

Misinformation 

Retroactive interference occurs when information learned more recently obstructs the recall of older, previously learned information. This phenomenon is also considered a potential explanation for the misinformation effect.

Retroactive Interference

Human memory is not a perfect recording device; it is flexible and susceptible to numerous errors. These inaccuracies can lead to feelings of frustration or embarrassment and have significant real-world consequences, such as the demonstrated unreliability of eyewitness testimony in legal contexts.

Problems with Memory

Goldstein, E. B. (2014). Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience. Nelson Education.


Cognitive psychology: Connecting mind, research and everyday experience

When reconstructing memories, we sometimes modify our original memories based on what is expected. After reading a sentence, we often imply things that are not explicitly stated in the sentence.

Pragmatic inferences

Where a memory came from can be mixed up (misidentified; misattributed). For example someone can remember hearing about an event from the news when they actually heard it from a friend.

Source-monitoring error (source misattribution)

Misinformation  Effect Paradigm

- The information appears to be true or is believable 
- Being rewritten in different forms
- Being accessible through multiple sources
- Confirmation Bias 
- Authoritative bias 
- Targeting hot topics
- Indicating urgency
- The Sunk Cost Fallacy 
- emotional appeals 
- False Beliefs
- Labels can lead to errors in assessment of information
- False Memories
- Inaccurate evaluation of information
- Ease of Processing
- Underthinking
- Deliberative processes

Reasons Misinformation Spreads

Rumors, conspiracy theories, satire news, and hoaxes

Examples of Misinformation

The process of determining the accuracy of information. Often performed and published by professional fact checkers such as Politifact or Snopes.

Fact Checking

- algorithmic
- corrective
- legislative
- psychological
- humor
- emotional refutations
- social media disclaimers

Possible solutions to Misinformation

Forewarning against misinformation should not only refute the incorrect information, it should also explain the dangers of misinformation in general. This is more effective than refuting alone. Further explored in Eakin, Schreiber, & Sergent-Marshall, 2003.

Effective forewarning against misinformation

- Because there is no single source of data that covers all three modes of consuming news, researchers select data sources on "the basis of their availability," which doesn't necessarily correspond with representativeness.
- The studies done on fake news often fail to consider how much of the fake news is consumed relative to other types of news or non-news related content.
- Even when the prevalence of fake news is low compared to other content, fake news can still be considered important because of its disproportionate impact on certain populations. Therefore comprehensive questions of prevalence on their own cannot resolve questions about influence.

Reasons Why It Is Difficult to Empirically Evaluate Disagreements Over the Prevalence and Importance of Misinformation

According to Guess & Lyons (2020) misinformation and disinformation differ regarding the author's/creater's intent. Misinformation and Disinformation are often difficult to distinguish because it’s difficult to tell whether someone spread wrong information intentionally (Disinformation) or unintentionally (Misinformation). If political misinformation is spread by politicians it's usually considered as disinformation. Also, fake news which are organized and spread by established news organizations are considered disinformation.

Distinction between Misinformation and Disinformation

Oftentimes, the producers of misinformation hide their identity. However, a few producers have been identified, e.g. Macedonian teenagers and Russia’s Internet Research Agency (IRA).

Production of Misinformation

It's difficult to trace misinformation back to their original source. Sources of fake news tend to be hyperpartisan and far-right (pro-Trump during the 2016 U.S. election). This notion is supported that even in mainstream, left-wing journalists tend to follow journalistic guidelines and codes more than right-wing journalists. In the past years, automated bots have much contributed to the spread of misinformation. It has been found than certain social media sites such as Facebook are better for spreading fake news than others such as twitter. 

Supply of Misinformation

Guess et al. (2018): approximately 27% of Americans had consumed at least one fake news article over the five weeks before the U.S. presidential election in 2016. Fourney et al. (2016): ca. 0.34% of Microsoft Explorer users (who agreed to anonymously share their internet usage) visited a fake news domain in a day. Grinberg et al. (2019): on twitter, ca. 5% of political content originates from fake news sources in 2016. Guess et al. (2018): 0.01 % of tweets contained fake news during the French presidential election in 2017. 

Even thought these statistics have their limitations and are difficult to interpret, one can say that only a small amount of social media content is fake news and only a small amount of social media users is responsible for the huge dissemination of fake news.

Prevalence of Misinformation

Scientific racism is the use of pseudoscience to claim inherent racial superiority of some groups over others. It fails to account for social and political factors when explaining racial inequalities and justifies them by using the authority of science as an objective way of knowledge formation (Gould, 1996).

Scientific Racism 

This concept refers to the attempt to correct the spread of misinformation by reducing people’s misconceptions. This topic focuses on ways to offer misinformation correction, the number of corrections offered to make an impact, and the source of the misinformation corrections. 

Correcting Misinformation

- Health Misinformation
- Political Misinformation
- Fake News
- Disinformation
- Misinformation in Online Communities

Types of Misinformation

The extent to which a person believes misinformation relative to accurate content

Truth Discernment

Topic of research project on visualization of information and misinformation.

Identifying Misinformation through Visualization

References for Who falls for fake news? Psychological and clinical profiling evidence of fake news consumers

Avram, M., Micallef, N., Patil, S., & Menczer, F. (2020). Exposure to social engagement metrics increases vulnerability to misinformation. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review. https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-033

Exposure to social engagement metrics increases vulnerability to misinformation

References for Exposure to social engagement metrics increases vulnerability to misinformation

An academic example of retroactive interference occurs when a student studies one topic, such as the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve, and then studies a different topic, like Erikson's theory of psychosocial development, the following week. The more recent information about Erikson's theory may make it difficult for the student to remember the details of Ebbinghaus's work.

Example of Retroactive Interference: New Course Material Obscuring Old

Retroactive interference can be seen when learning a new email address, such as a sibling's college email (e.g., npatel@siblingcollege.edu), makes it harder to remember their old email address. The newly acquired information interferes with the recall of the older information.

Example of Retroactive Interference: Email Addresses

Which of the following scenarios is the best example of a situation where newly learned information makes it difficult to recall older, previously learned information?

* Amnesia
* Dementia
* Alzheimer's Disease

Disorders of Memory

Forgetting is defined as the loss of information from long-term memory. This is a universal human experience, manifesting in everyday situations like forgetting a name, a birthday, or the location of personal items like car keys. Such memory failures, while common, can be a source of frustration and embarrassment, underscoring the fragile nature of human memory.

Forgetting

Suggestibility is a memory distortion error where individuals accept and incorporate misinformation from external sources into their personal recollections. This process, which can be triggered by leading questions from sources like a therapist or a police interviewer, can lead to the creation of false memories for events or details that were only suggested, not actually experienced.

Suggestibility

A false memory is a recollection of an event, or details of an event, that did not actually occur. This phenomenon highlights that human memory is not a perfect, video-like recording of the past but is instead a reconstructive process capable of creating memories for things that never happened.

False Memories

Misattribution is a type of memory error comprised of forgetting the correct source of information. For example, misattribution occurs as a person believes they had a certain conversation with their best friend, but in reality, they had that conversation with their parent.

Misattribution 

Memory errors, or failures in remembering, can be broadly classified into different categories. A prominent framework is Schacter's 'Seven Sins of Memory,' which divides errors into sins of omission (forgetting) and sins of commission (distortions). Other significant errors include those stemming from the misinformation effect, source misattribution, and pragmatic inferences.

Classification of Memory Errors

Despite the known fragility of human memory, the legal system, including police, prosecutors, and courts, often depends heavily on eyewitness testimony for criminal prosecutions. This reliance is problematic because memory is a reconstructive process, making eyewitness accounts susceptible to errors that can lead to faulty identifications and, ultimately, wrongful convictions.

Eyewitness Testimony and its Unreliability

Elizabeth Loftus is a cognitive psychologist known for her extensive research on human memory. Her work has significantly contributed to the understanding of false memories and the concept of recovered memories, particularly in the context of childhood sexual abuse. Loftus is also credited with developing the misinformation effect paradigm.

Elizabeth Loftus

The concept of repressed memories, originating with Sigmund Freud, posits that memories of traumatic experiences can be unconsciously blocked from awareness. This idea has been a significant and controversial topic within psychology, with ongoing debate about its validity and the mechanisms through which memories might be recovered.

Repressed Memories

To counteract the natural fallibility and errors of the human memory system, various strategies can be employed. Common techniques include the use of mnemonic devices, rehearsal, self-referencing, and ensuring adequate sleep. These methods are also beneficial for enhancing learning and studying effectively.

Strategies to Combat Memory Failure

Analyze the following scenario and identify the specific memory error that leads the witness to recall seeing broken glass. Explain the psychological process responsible for this inaccurate memory.

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