PLANTING FALSE CHILDHOOD MEMORIES - THE ROLE OF EVENT PLAUSIBILITY

Two experiments tested and confirmed the hypothesis that events will b e suggestively planted in memory to the degree that they are plausible and script-relevant knowledge exists in memory. In Experiment 1, 22 J ewish and 29 Catholic high school students were read descriptions of t hree true events and two false events reported to have occurred when t hey were 8 years old. One false event described a Jewish ritual, and o ne described a Catholic ritual. Results for the false events showed th e predicted asymmetry. Whereas 7 Catholics but 0 Jews remembered only the Catholic false event, 3 Jews but only 1 Catholic remembered only t he Jewish false event. Two subjects recalled both events. In Experimen t 2, 20 confederates read descriptions of one true event and two false events to a younger sibling or close relative. The more plausible fal se event described the relative being lost in a mall while shopping; t he less plausible false event described the relative receiving an enem a. Three events were falsely remembered; all were the more plausible e vent. We conclude by out-lining a framework that specifies the cogniti ve processes underlying suggestively planting false events in memory.