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memory
You invent memories to fill missing gaps.
In a 1995 study by Loftus and Pickrell published in Psychiatric Annals, 25% of participants reported memories of being lost in a mall after researchers presented them with a false story as if it were provided by their family.
The study appeared in Psychiatric Annals, and the false stories were delivered by researchers using family-sourced information, not by the family members themselves.
Your own memory is the most convincing liar you know.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Loftus, 1995, Journal of Experimental Psychology
- What the check found
- The 25% figure is accurate, but the source and the procedural details (who delivered the misinformation) are misattributed or imprecise.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.