On False Memories: Cognitive

IllusionsBrian BruceRunqiu Cai

Brian DeAngelisJason KimmelPhoebe KuoNeil ParikhSoha Shah

Nathaniel StornettaAdam Tourgee

Julia XuSean YeagerAlex Young

Memory

•Intrinsic and essential element of human life

•Imperfect–Errors of omission–Errors of comission (false memory)

Deese (1959)

•Word List•Thimble, haystack, pointy, sharp, thread, pin, eye, sewing, prick

•Key word needle unmentioned, but subjects falsely recalled it

Roediger, Meade Bergman (2001)

•Confederate social influence

•“Social Contagion”•Remembered items in a scene which weren’t there

Big Five•Social/Reserved•Limbic/Calm•Organized/Unstructured •Accommodating/Egotistical

•Non-curious/Inquisitive

Ward and Loftus (1985)

•Eyewitness accounts•Introverted subjects more susceptible to misinformation

QUESTION: What is the effect of extroversion on the susceptibility to false

memory with a factor of social influence from a confederate in a group

setting?

HYPOTHESIS: The degree of social contagion will be

greater among introverts than among groups

composed of extroverts

Methods (Design)

•False Memory Susceptibility–Introvert vs. Extrovert–Mixed Group vs. Like-Minded Group

Methods (Participants)

• 67 Governor’s School Students

• Six Groups–Two Introvert Groups–Two Extrovert Groups–Two Mixed (Controls)

Methods (Procedure)

•Distribute personality tests

•Make groups•Instruct Confederates•Experiment

• Chronology of Experiment:–Consent form–Magic trick–2-minute filler test–8-minute discussion–5-minute filler test–5-minute memory implantation test

–De-briefing

Methods (Procedure)

Discussion Sessions

The Results

•Personality Test

Average Personality Type:S C O X I

Social – Calm – Organized – X - Inquisitive

The Results

•Range–Very diverse group, ranged from Low (7) to High (35)

The Results

•Reasoning Tests–Overall, Governor’s School students scored significantly higher

Results and Speculation

s•We got social contagion!

–28% of the implanted items were falsely remembered

–62% had at least one false memory

•No difference between extroverts and introverts (contrary to Ward and Loftus)

The mixed groups were much less susceptible to false memory

implantation than the like-minded groups.Comparison of like-minded and mixed groups

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

not mentioned correct FALSE

Type of question

like-minded

mixed

Limitations and

Qualifications•Gov. School students•Slanted SLOAN tests•Random chance/uncontrollable variables

The Future

•Further applications•Future research

Acknowledgements

Docta DEE, Ph.D. (Professa P-Diddy)

Paul Quinn (Superman)Jen Sissman

Dr. MIYAMOTO-SANDoc Surace (Uncle Loser)

Test Participants (except those who forgot to show up)

Thank you for all your help!

Thank You

Rollin’ with Dolan: Cognitive Illusions

Brian BruceRunqiu Cai

Brian DeAngelisJason KimmelPhoebe KuoNeil ParikhSoha Shah

Nathaniel StornettaAdam Tourgee

Julia XuSean YeagerAlex Young

The Results• Linda Reasoning Test

Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken and very bright. At university she studied philosophy. As a student she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice and also participated in anti-war demonstrations.  ___ Linda is a bank teller ___ Linda is active in the feminist movement ___ Linda is active in the feminist movement and is a bank teller

The Results• Linda Reasoning Test

The Right Answer

Why?

The Results• Linda Reasoning Test

On average, less than 15% of people get this question right when tested in large groups.

42% of the 67 students tested got this question right!

The Results• Chain Test

The Results• Chain Test

IT’S NOT IMPOSSIBLE!

~Unlink all of the chains in any line and use them as connectors to link the rest!

To unhook the 3 = $.06 and to link them back, $.09 = $.15

The Results• Chain Test

~Governor’s School students did much better!

~9% of students got it correctly in just 5 minutes

In a study, people were given 30 minutes to answer it and just ~50% got it right!